ENGLISH  DRAMA;  Op  XRE; 

RESTORATION  aM) 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

(1642-1780) 


BY 


GEORGE  HENRY  NETTLETON 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH   IN   THE   SHEFFIELD 
SCIENTIFIC  SCHOOL  OF  YALE  UNIVERSITY 


THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1923 

Ail  righU  mtrvti. 


'        '  '     nUNTEIX  ^N   THE  TTNITBD   STATES   OF   AMSBIOA 


o^^\'^< 


ConrwGHT,  1914, 
Br  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


S«t  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  March,  1914. 


Norfoooti  l^rres 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


SIR  ADOLPHUS  WILLIAM  WARD 

IN    TOKEN    OF   FRIENDSHIP 


959640 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishdramaofreOOnettrich 


PREFACE 

Despite  the  activity  of  research  in  the  general  field 
of  English  drama,  and  the  marked  growth  of  critical 
interest  in  its  contemporary  aspects,  little  heed  has 
yet  been  given  to  certain  earlier  periods  of  modern 
English  drama  which  help  to  explain  its  later  de- 
velopment. For  the  most  part,  students  of  English 
dramatic  history  have  preferred  even  the  by-paths 
and  meanders  of  Elizabethan  drama  to  the  main- 
travelled  roads  that  lead  onward  from  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  one  of  the  bibliographical  notes  in  his 
admirable  volume  entitled  Tragedy,  Professor  A.  H. 
Thorndike  puts  the  case  tersely  :  *  Ward's  History  of 
Dramatic  Literature  ends  with  the  death  of  Queen 
Anne;  and  there  is  no  adequate  history  of  the 
English  drama  for  the  last  two  centuries,  and  no 
good  bibliography.'  So  vigorously,  indeed,  have 
almost  all  the  fields  of  English  literature  been  cul- 
tivated, that  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  now  remains 
any  other  equally  neglected  area  comparable  in 
breadth  with  that  clearly  suggested  by  Professor 
Thorndike.  His  own  concluding  chapters,  though 
confined  to  tragedy,  form,  in  fact,  one  of  the  few 
significant  contributions  toward  the  broader  critical 
investigation  which  must  review  the  whole  course  of 
modern  English  dramatic  development. 

The  present  volume  owes  its  origin  to  a  plan,  for- 
mulated some  dozen  years  ago,  to  continue,  though 


Vili  PREFACE 

on  a  lesser  scale,  the  history  of  English  drama  from 
the  point  where  it  was  abandoned  by  Doctor  —  now 
Sir  —  Adolphus  W.  Ward.  So  intimate,  however,  are 
the  relations  between  eighteenth-century  drama  and 
that  of  the  Restoration,  that  it  soon  became  advisable 
to  include  the  earlier  period,  and  ultimately  to  revert 
even  to  the  dramatic  interregnum  which  in  reality 
links,  while  it  seems  to  separate.  Restoration  and 
Elizabethan  drama.  In  this  way,  it  is  hoped,  the 
continuous  development  of  modern  English  drama 
has  been  more  clearly  emphasized,  and  the  necessary 
background  for  later  critical  discussion  more  def- 
initely supplied.  The  present  volume,  accordingly, 
deals  with  the  entire  period  from  the  closing  of  the 
theatres  in  1642  to  the  culmination  of  eighteenth- 
century  drama  in  Sheridan.  A  subsequent  volume, 
for  which  the  material  is  largely  in  hand,  will  con- 
tinue the  record  from  about  1780  through  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

The  aim  of  this  work  has  been  rather  to  ascertain 
the  actual  course  of  English  drama  than  to  warp  its 
often  discordant  facts  into  conformity  with  a  pre- 
conceived theory  of  dramatic  evolution.  Almost  from 
the  outset,  in  fact,  it  became  necessary  to  discard 
many  of  the  traditional  assumptions  of  dramatic  crit- 
icism. Even  in  the  case  of  Restoration  drama,  which 
has  received  far  greater  critical  attention  than  has 
hitherto  been  given  to  that  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
investigation  has  disclosed  much  that  fails  to  har- 
monize with  some  of  the  articles  prescribed  by  an 
earlier  critical  creed.  Yet  the  tone  of  this  work  has 
not  consciously  been  controversial.  Throughout  the 
main  text  and  the  Bibliographical  Notes  it  has  seemed 


PREFACE  ix 

preferable  to  emphasize  the  more  trustworthy  sources 
of  information  rather  than  to  expose  the  shortcom- 
ings of  unrehable  works.  Corrections  of  errors  not 
infrequently  detected  even  in  many  standard  sources 
of  reference  have  usually  been  made  without  com- 
ment. Even  in  the  single  detail  of  determining  the 
dates  of  stage  production  of  plays,  full  controversial 
evidence  would  have  far  exceeded  the  limits,  as  well 
as  the  purpose,  of  this  volume.  In  the  interest  of 
accuracy,  the  Bibliographical  Notes  and  footnotes 
supply  definite  information  as  to  specific  texts  and 
editions  cited,  and  the  means  of  verifying  statements 
of  fact  have  been  freely  supplied  even  at  the  risk 
that  the  author  may  become  an  *  enginer  hoist  with 
his  own  petar.*  It  would  be  difificult  to  exaggerate 
the  difficulties  of  accurate  investigation,  especially  in 
those  eighteenth-century  theatrical  records  which  re- 
flect the  careless  gossip,  anecdote,  and  reminiscences 
of  the  green-room.  The  effort  to  reduce  the  chances 
of  error  has  included  a  checking  at  the  British 
Museum  and  Bodleian  Libraries  of  the  entire  proof, 
independent  of  the  manuscript,  and  a  similar  recheck- 
ing  of  the  page  proof,  so  far  as  possible,  at  the  Yale 
University  Library.  Yet  I  can  hardly  hope  to  have 
avoided  all  the  pitfalls  of  the  way,  especially  where 
it  has  often  been^  overgrown  with  long  neglect. 

In  a  work  which  has  spread  over  many  years  and 
over  so  broad  a  field,  it  is  impossible  to  acknowledge 
fully  the  many  debts  constantly  incurred.  Yet  by 
far  my  deepest  obligation  is  to  Sir  Adolphus  W. 
Ward.  The  extent  to  which  all  students  of  the 
drama  are  dependent  on  his  History  of  English 
Dramatic  Literature  can  best  be  realized  by  one  who 


X  PREFACE 

fares  forth  on  the  unfrequented  seas  of  eighteenth- 
century  English  drama,  deprived  of  the  friendly  charts 
that  have  thus  far  safeguarded  him.  My  personal 
debt,  however,  exceeds  the  common  measure  of  obli- 
gation to  Doctor  Ward's  scholarship.  From  his  first 
generous  endorsement  of  my  general  plan,  his  friendly 
counsel  has  been  unfailing.  During  the  past  three 
or  four  years  he  has  followed  the  entire  work  with 
stimulating  and  suggestive  annotation  of  the  manu- 
script, and  with  a  constant  and  cordial  encouragement 
which  can  here  be  acknowledged  but  imperfectly. 
It  is  a  pleasant  privilege,  also,  to  recognize  a  deep 
and  long-standing  indebtedness  to  Professor  Henry  A. 
Beers  of  Yale.  Many  of  the  critical  views  here  ex- 
pressed were  essentially  derived  from  a  graduate 
course  under  his  direction,  and  doubtless  these  def- 
inite obligations  are  enlarged  by  many  unconscious 
reminiscences  of  his  thought  or  phrase.  To  other 
colleagues  at  Yale  I  am  indebted  in  various  ways  — 
in  particular,  to  Professor  Cross,  for  reviewing  in 
proof  the  chapter  on  Fielding,  and  to  Mr.  Andrew 
Keogh,  of  the  Yale  University  Library,  for  frequent 
and  unwearying  assistance.  Much  of  this  work  would 
have  been  impossible  without  constant  access  to  the 
British  Museum  and  Bodleian  Libraries,  and  its 
progress  has  been  greatly  furthered  by  the  courteous 
aid  of  various  officials  at  these  places,  and  at  the 
Cambridge  University  Library  and  the  Biblioth^que 
Nationale. 

This  work  is  essentially  based  on  original  texts 
and  documents.  In  the  earlier  drafts  of  the  manu- 
script, quotations  from  plays  or  theatrical  documents 
were   regularly  taken   from   the   original   texts,  but 


PREFACE  Xi 

since  imperfections  of  typography  and  of  scene  di- 
vision often  involved  correction  or  elaborate  textual 
annotation,  it  seemed  better  eventually  to  modify  a 
method  of  reference  often  inconvenient  to  the  reader, 
and  to  utilize,  to  the  extent  indicated  in  the  Bibli- 
ographical Notes,  certain  generally  accessible  modern 
critical  editions  and  reprints.  Dates  of  plays  given 
in  the  main  text  are  habitually  those  of  their  stage 
production,  and  have  largely  been  determined  through 
contemporary  newspapers,  magazines,  playbills,  and 
other  definite  records,  such  as  authentic  dated  letters 
and  diaries.  These  dates,  it  should  be  noted,  often 
do  not  coincide  with  those  of  the  first  printed  editions. 
Contemporary  works  of  general  character,  such  as 
memoirs,  theatrical  histories,  and  even  autobiog- 
raphies, have  often  proved  very  unreliable,  but  the 
best  of  them  have  supplied  much  valuable  material. 
Though  the  present  work  is  but  incidentally  con- 
cerned with  questions  of  individual  biography,  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography  has  proved  of  much 
assistance.  Its  statements  have  been  largely  verified, 
however,  by  independent  investigation  of  early  records, 
and  some  minor  inaccuracies  have  thus  been  corrected. 
The  Bibliographical  Notes  and  the  footnotes  to  the 
main  text  supply  references  to  works  consulted  in  the 
preparation  of  this  volume,  and  indicate,  at  least  to  a 
considerable  degree,  those  that  have  proved  especially 
useful.  Many  of  the  works  listed  have  contributed, 
at  most,  only  indirectly  to  the  present  pages,  but  I 
wish  to  acknowledge  as  fully  and  as  cordially  as 
possible  the  investigations  of  previous  writers.  It 
would  be  idle  to  claim  acquaintance  with  every  work 
bearing  on  any  part  of  the  wide  range  of  dramatic 


Xii  PREFACE 

literature  and  theatrical  history  here  discussed,  but  I 
have  sought  to  acquaint  myself  as  far  as  possible 
with  the  results  of  modern  critical  study  as  well  as 
with  the  contemporary  literature  of  the  various 
periods. 

There  remains  one  matter  in  which  a  personal 
reference  seems  unavoidable.  Some  of  the  results 
of  my  investigation  of  eighteenth-century  drama  have 
already  been  formally  presented.  The  Major  Dramas 
of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  published  in  the  Ath- 
encBum  Press  Series  in  1906,  gives  a  much  more 
detailed  study  of  Sheridan  and  his  relation  to  Eng- 
lish drama  than  suits  the  proportions  of  the  present 
work.  It  has  seemed  unnecessary  to  reproduce 
here  the  references  and  bibliographical  data  there 
accessible.  For  the  tenth  volume  (191 3)  of  The  Cam- 
bridge History  of  English  Literature,  I  prepared  the 
fourth  chapter,  entitled  *  The  Drama  and  the  Stage.' 
This  section  reviews  the  general  aspects  of  Queen 
Anne  drama  and  continues  the  critical  account  of 
eighteenth-century  drama  down  to  Goldsmith  and 
Sheridan.  Naturally,  no  essential  modification  of 
general  viewpoints  was  possible,  and  a  certain  amount 
of  duplication  has  been  inevitable.  That  the  work 
for  the  Cambridge  History  was  undertaken  at  Doctor 
Ward's  request,  after  he  had  in  hand  the  manuscript 
of  the  present  book,  may  account  for  my  assumption 
of  a  dual  r61e.  Numerous  differences  in  the  selection 
and  arrangement  of  the  common  material  available 
for  critical  use,  together  with  the  marked  distinction 
between  the  more  extensive  method  of  bibliography 
permitted  in  the  Cambridge  History  and  the  more  se- 
lective method  in  the  present  Bibliographical  Notes, 


PREFACE  Xiii 

make  these  two  works,  it  is  hoped,  supplementary 
rather  than  identical  in  character.  Yet  even  if  the 
history  of  eighteenth-century  EngHsh  drama  has,  in 
any  sense,  become  a  twice-told  tale,  I  trust  that  the 
retelling  of  a  much  neglected  story  may  find  some 
listeners  as  generous  as  the  kindly  critic  who  has 
befriended  both  versions,  and  to  whom  I  am  privileged 
to  inscribe  this  volume. 

Yale  University, 
1  November,  1913 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

I.    Contrasts  between  Elizabethan  and  Res- 
toration Drama i 

II.     The  Dramatic  Interregnum,  1642-1660         .  14 

III.  The  Beginnings  of  Restoration  Drama  and 

Opera 30 

IV.  Dryden,  and  the  Heroic  Drama  ...  53 
V.    Etherege  and  Wycherley  (Shadwell)        .  71 

VI.    Dryden,  Lee,  and  Otway        ....  88 
VII.     Aspects  of  Minor  Restoration  Drama        .  104 
VIII.    Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar    .        .120 
IX.    The  Moral  Reawakening        .        .        .        .141 
X.     Some  Aspects  of  Queen  Anne  Drama  .        .  166 
XI.    Pantomime  and  Ballad  Opera       .        .        .183 
XII.     Voltaire's  Influence  and  Bourgeois  Trag- 
edy            195 

XIII.  Fielding  and  the  Licensing  Act  .        .        .  213 

XIV.  The  Garrick  Era 227 

XV.     The  Lighter  Drama  of  the  Garrick  Era  .  245 

XVI.    The    Rise    and    Height    of     Sentimental 

Drama 264 

XVII.    Goldsmith  and  the  Reaction  in  Comedy     .  277 

XVIII.    Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan  ....  291 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES        .....  315 

INDEX 341 


XV 


ENGLISH   DRAMA  OF  THE' RES'fORA-^^' 
TION  AND   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

CHAPTER  I 

CONTRASTS  BETWEEN  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION 
DRAMA 

Modern  English  drama  may  be  said  to  begin  with 
the  Restoration  of  1660.  The  term  ^modern'  admits 
various  definitions,  but  a  convenient  distinction  may- 
be made  between  the  earlier  period  of  Enghsh  drama 
ending  with  the  closing  of  the  theatres,  in  1642,  and 
the  more  modem  period  beginning,  formally,  with  the 
creation  of  the  Patent  Theatres,  under  Charles  II. 
The  history  of  a  literature  is,  indeed,  too  continuous 
to  permit  rigid  division  into  precise  periods.  Even 
the  interregnum  when  theatres  were  under  Puritan 
ban  does  not,  in  reaHty,  break  a  continuous  dramatic 
tradition.  The  doors  that  closed  against  the  earlier 
drama  reopened  to  admit  its  reentrance  to  the  boards. 
Yet  never  has  the  course  of  English  drama  been  inter- 
rupted so  decisively  as  during  the  years  when  theatres 
were  closed  and  drama  underwent  almost  total  eclipse. 
The  ordinance  of  2  September,  1642,  which  decreed 
that  'publike  Stage-Playes  shall  cease,  and  bee  for- 
borne,' ^  marked,  rather  than  caused,  the  end  qi  that 
great  dramatic  era  which  had  risen  to  full  height  in 
Shakespeare  and  had  already  lapsed  into  Hterary  and 

1  Facsimile  reprint  in  Joseph  Knight's  edition,  1886,  of  Roscius 
Anglicanus;  Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  V,  336. 
B  I 


i».         \;  r,/.:,;    ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

,ih<)^al'  dechdeme.  The  wave  of  creative  power  had 
well-nigh  spent  itself  before  reaching  the  barrier  set 
up  to  arrest  its  progress.  Originality  had  yielded 
largely  to  conventionality.  There  was  dearth  of 
poetry  and  excess  of  rhetoric.  Comedy  portrayed 
manners  rather  than  the  man.  Tragedy  sullied 
itself  with  gross  passion  and  lust.  Furthermore,  the 
tragedy  of  blood  on  the  mimic  stage  was  destined  to 
give  way  to  the  actual  tragedy  of  civil  war.  Even 
before  the  formal  suppression  of  the  theatres,  the 
Master  of  the  Revels  found  his  occupation  gone,  for 
his  register  closed  with  the  significant  entry:  *Here 
ended  my  allowance  of  plaies,  for  the  war  began  in 
Aug.  1642.'  ^ 

The  years  between  1642  and  1660  formed  a  virtual, 
but  not  absolute,  interregnum  in  the  history  of  the 
drama  and  of  the  theatre.  Closer  examination  of  the 
actual  conditions  prevalent  during  the  period  will 
presently  show  that,  despite  severe  threats  of  the  law, 
the  drama  maintained  a  semblance  of  life.  It  had, 
however,  no  genuine  vitality.  With  the  creation  of 
two  companies  of  actors,  under  letters  patent  issued 
by  Charles  II,  21  August,  1660,  and  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  two  'Patent  Theatres,'  the  period  of 
modem  English  drama  may  be  said  to  have  been 
inaugurated.  It  will  be  important  hereafter  to  em- 
phasize constantly  the  essential  continuity  of  Eng- 
lish dramatic  development.  It  is,  perhaps,  equally 
important,  at  the  outset,  to  review  broadly,  even 
at   the   risk   of    repeating    famiHar   facts,    some   of 

1  Sir  Henry  Herbert's  *  Office-book/  cited  in  Malone's  Shakspeare, 
1790  edition,  Vol.  I,  Part  II,  p.  237. 


1  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA  3 

the  salient  differences  between  earlier  English  drama 
and  that  which  begins  with  the  Restoration. 

Even  in  the  mechanism  of  stage  presentation,  the 
Restoration  theatre  is  distinct  from  its  Elizabethan 
predecessor.  'Twere  to  consider  too  curiously,  to 
consider  here  the  disputed  questions  of  Elizabethan 
scenery  and  of  the  sporadic  appearances  of  actresses 
in  England  before  the  Restoration.  It  is  enough  to 
recognize  that  the  general  adoption  of  movable 
scenery  and  the  regular  employment  of  women  as 
actors  are  noteworthy  departures  from  the  habitual 
usages  of  the  Elizabethan  stage.  These  and  similar 
changes  which  affected  primarily  the  theatrical  man- 
ager or  producer  were  not,  to  be  sure,  without  direct 
influence  upon  the  dramatist.  The  playwright  is 
never  independent  of  the  conditions  of  actual  stage 
production.  Yet  superficial  differences  between  the 
Elizabethan  and  Restoration  stages  are  less  striking 
than  fundamental  differences  in  the  drama  they  pre- 
sented. How  far  the  old  order  of  drama  changed  in 
yielding  place  to  new  may  be  suggested  by  some 
general  contrasts  drawn  between  Elizabethan  and 
Restoration  drama. 

It  is  a  commonplace  of  criticism  that  the  Eliza- 
bethan  age  is  creative,  the  Restoration^cn  In 

an  uiicreative  age,  criticism  and  satire  become  prom- 
inent. Dryden,  the  most  commanding  figure  of 
Restoration  drama,  was  less  dramatist  than  critic 
and  satirist.  Broadly  speaking,  Elizabethan  drama 
is  spontaneous  and  original.  Restoration  dr^pja  arti- 
ficial and  imitative.  Elizabethan  comedy  at  its 
height  is  creative ;  Restoration  comedy  at  its  best  is 


4  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

imitative  of  the  fashions  and  follies  of  the  heau  monde. 
The  one  notably  interprets  character,  the  other 
chiefly  reproduces  characteristics.  Between  Falstaff 
and  Sir  Fopling  Flutter  is  the  difference  between  a 
masterly  portrait  and  an  admirable  photograph. 
Again,  the  Elizabethans  were  impatient  of  artificial 
restraints.  Shakespeare  violated  the  dramatic  unities ; 
Dryden  advocated  them,  eveiilf  Ms  pfactfce  did  not 
always  square  with  his  precept.  The  Elizabethans 
were  fond  of  blending  tragedy  with  comedy;  the 
Restoration  playwrights  usually  inclined  to  separate 
them.  The  Elizabethans  adapted  freely  materials 
from  various  sources,  but  their  Restoration  followers 
often  borrowed  manner  as  well  as  matter  from  Con- 
tinental models.  Restoration  drama,  in  a  word, 
lacks  the  spontaneity  and  originality  of  EKzabethan 
drama  —  imitates  rather  than  creates  —  recognizes, 
even  though  it  does  not  follow  implicitly,  conventional 
rules. 

No  less  marked  is  the  contrast  between  Elizabethan 
and  Restoration  drama  in  breadth  of  scope.  The  for- 
mer is  national,  the  latter  local.  Shakespeare  sounds 
the  whole  gamut  of  Ufe,  but  the  comic  dramatists  of 
,  the  Restoration  repeat  the  notes  of  fashion,  frivolity, 
i^and  vice.  Comedy  in  Dryden's  age  represents  pri- 
marily only  the  hfe  of  the  court.  Hero  and  heroine 
know  the  world,  but  the  world  is  London.  The 
*  country '  becomes  a  term  of  banishment  w  'th  which  to 
threaten  wives  not  clever  enough  to  hooovink  their 
husbands.  Shakespeare  portrays  all  the  oassions; 
Restoration  comedy  constantly  reverts  to  the  single 
passion  of  unlawful  love.    Tragedy,  which  flowed 


I  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA  5 

full  and  free  in  Elizabethan  days,  is  channelled  in 
'heroic  drama'  between  artificial  banks  difficult  to 
surmount. 

If  Restoration  drama  lacks  breadth  of  scope,  it 
lacks  also  depth  of  feeling  and  height  of  poetic  im- 
agination. Even  in  rhymed  and  blank- verse  tragedies 
there  is  dearth  of  poetic  fancy.  Comedy  abandons 
poetry  for  prose.  Romantic  comedy  yields  to  the 
comedy  of  manners.  Common  sense  replaces  poetic 
sensibility.  Wit  is  more  common  than  humour.  The 
intellectual  faculties  are  exalted  above  the  emotional. 
It  is  an  age  which  sees  the  founding  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  which  has  philosophers  like  Hobbes  and 
Locke,  and  scientists  like  Newton,  but  poets  are 
few.    Rarely  does  even  Restoration  tragedy  utter 

those  melodious  bursts,  that  fill 
The  spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth 
With  sounds  that  echo  stUl. 

The  attitude  toward  Shakespeare  is  a  valuable 
sidelight  upon  Dryden's  period.  Shakespeare  was 
rewritten  to  suit  an  age  which  found  Elizabethan 
genius  rude  and  unrefined.  Native  wood-notes  were 
too  wild  in  days  when  Dryden  deemed  Shakespeare 
'untaught,  unpractised,  in  a  barbarous  age.'  ^  Nahum 
Tate  perverted  King  Lear  with  a  happy  ending. 
Dryden  and  D'Avenant  with  profane  hands  broke 
the  charm  of  The  Tempest.  'The  Tragedy  of  Macbeth, 
alter 'd  by  Sir  William  Davenant;  being  drest  in  all  it's 
Finery,  as  new  Cloath's,  new  Scenes,  Machines,  as 
flyings  for  the  Witches ;  with  all  the  Singing  and  Danc- 
1  Prologue  to  Dryden's  version  of  Troilus  and  Cressida. 


6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

ing  in  it  ...  it  being  all  Excellently  perform'd, 
being  in  the  nature  of  an  Opera,  it  Recompenc'd 
double  the  Expence.'  ^  Samuel  Pepys,  a  confirmed 
and  by  no  means  unrepresentative  playgoer,  found 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream  'the  most  insipid  ridic- 
ulous play  that  ever  I  saw  in  my  life/  ^  and  Othello 
*  a  mean  thing'  ^  in  comparison  with  The  Adventures  of 
Five  Hours.  Beyond  the  Restoration  horizon  lay 
the  forest  of  Arden  and  the  seacoast  of  Bohemia. 

But  perhaps  the  most  significant  contrast  between 
Elizabethan  and  Restoration  drama  is  in  moral 
tone.  The  immoraHty  of  Restoration  comedy  has 
become  a  byword,  yet  the  subject  is  too  vital  to  be 
dismissed  lightly.  Judged  by  modern  standards, 
Ehzabethan  drama  admitted  at  its  best  considerable 
vulgarity  and  indecency  of  speech,  and  in  the  period 
of  its  decUne  showed  increasing  tendencies  toward 
grossness  of  thought  as  well  as  freedom  of  phrase. 
Distinction  should,  obviously,  be  made  between 
frankness  of  expression  and  uncleanness  of  mind. 
The  standard  of  permissible  expression  is,  in  a  sense, 
matter  of  custom  rather  than  of  moraUty.  Restraint 
of  phrase  counts  less  than  purity  of  intention,  for 
immorality  may  Ue  as  much  in  what  is  to  be  read 
between  the  lines  as  in  what  actually  appears  on  them. 
Yet,  with  every  fair  allowance,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  Elizabethan  drama  is  often  not  merely  coarse 
butjmpure.  Not  even  in  its  decadence,  however, 
does  it  touch  the  depths  of  Restoration  immorality. 

1  Downes,  Roscius  Anglicanus,  1708,  p.  33. 

*  Diary,  29  Sept.,  1662.     Wheatley  edition,  II,  347- 

*Zhid.,  20  Aug.,  1666.    Wheatley  edition,  V,  407- 


I  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA  7 

Restoration  comedy  differs  fundamentally  from  Eliza- 
bethan in  deliberately  enlisting  the  sympathy  of  the 
audience  in  favour  of  the  wrong-doer.  The  earUer 
drama,  with  all  its  sins,  inclines  to  award  dramatic 
justice,  however  belated,  to  the  virtuous.  Restora- 
tion comedy,  disdaining  fifth-act  compromise,  often 
lets  vice  rampant  in  the  earlier  acts  remain  vice 
triumphant.  The  curtain  falls  with  plaudits  for  the 
coimtry  wife  who  carries  out  a  London  intrigue  with- 
out detection,  and  with  derisive  laughter  for  the  hus- 
band who  alone  remains  unconscious  of  his  dishonour. 
Restoration  comedy  flaunts  shamelessly  the  blazon 
of  the  'scarlet  letter.'  It  laughs  not  merely  indul- 
gently at  vice,  but  harshly  at  the  semblance  of  virtue. 
Cavalier  contempt  went  so  far  as  to  regard  the  show 
of  virtue  as  proof  of  hypocrisy.  Cynicism  replaced 
religion.  Piety  was  considered  bourgeois.  Contempt 
for  hypocrisy,  however,  did  not  extend  to  the  hypoc- 
risy of  the  intriguant.  All  was  fair  in  amorous 
intrigue.  The  seducer  wlio  l)i?tw!Tte3'^ the"  deluded 
husband  became  not  the  villain  but  the  hefo.  In 
the  women  deception  was  both  a  necessity  and  a 
virtue.  Restoration  comedy  showed  less  the  frailty 
of  human  nature  than  the  strength  of  ^nJimal  passion. 
So  utterly  subversive  of  moral  standards  is  Res- 
toration comedy  that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
defend  it  on  the  ground  that  it  dealt  with  an  unreal 
world  to  which  no  ordinary  standards  are  appHcable. 
This  brilliant  fallacy  is  put  forward  by  Charles  Lamb 
in  his  essay  On  the  Artificial  Comedy  of  the  Las* 
Century.  The  characters  of  Restoration  comed> 
seem  to  Lamb  to  have  escaped  from  the  actual  world 


8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

where  moral  law  still  reigns  into  'the  Utopia  of  gal- 
lantry, where  pleasure  is  duty,  and  the  manners 
perfect  freedom.  .  .  .  We  are  not  to  judge  them  by 
our  usages.  No  reverend  institutions  are  insulted 
by  their  proceedings, —  for  they  have  none  among 
them.  No  peace  of  families  is  violated, —  for  no 
family  ties  exist  among  them.  No  purity  of  the 
marriage  bed  is  stained, —  for  none  is  supposed  to  have 
a  being.  No  deep  affections  are  disquieted, —  no  holy 
wedlock  bands  are  snapped  asunder, —  for  affection^s 
depth  and  wedded  faith  are  not  of  the  growth  of  that 
soil.  There  is  neither  right  nor  wrong,  —  gratitude  or 
its  opposite,  —  claim  or  duty,  —  paternity  or  sonship.* 
But  Restoration  comedy  was  *  artificial'  only  in  so 
far  as  the  court  life  which  it  mirrored  was  artificial. 
It  portrayed  all  too  faithfully  the  Vanity  Fair  of 
the  Merry  Monarch. 

Macaulay,  with  the  heavy  hand  of  common 
sense,  relentlessly  crushed  to  earth  Lamb's  poetic 
fancy.  His  essay  on  the  Comic  Dramatists  of  the 
Restoration^  swept  away  specious  pleas  in  defence 
of  artificial  comedy.  ^The  morality  of  the  Country 
Wife  and  the  Old  Bachelor,'  he  writes,  4s  the  morality, 
not,  as  Mr.  Charles  Lamb  maintains,  of  an  imreal 
world,  but  of  a  world  which  is  a  great  deal  too  real.  .  .  . 
Here  the  garb,  the  manners,  the  topics  of  conver- 
sation are  those  of  the  real  town  and  of  the  passing 
day.  The  hero  is  in  all  superficial  accompKshments 
exactly  the  fine  gentleman  whom  every  youth  in 

*  Often  entitled  Leigh  Hunt,  of  whose  edition  of  The  Dramatic 
Works  of  Wycherley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar  Macaulay*s 
essay  was  ostensibly  a  review. 


I  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA  9 

the  pit  would  gladly  resemble.  The  heroine  is  the 
fine  lady  whom  every  youth  in  the  pit  would  gladly 
marry.  The  scene  is  laid  in  some  place  which  is  as 
well  known  to  the  audience  as  their  own  houses.  .  .  . 
A  hundred  little  touches  are  employed  to  make  the 
fictitious  world  appear  like  the  actual  world.  And 
the  immorality  is  of  a  sort  which  never  can  be  out  of 
date,  and  which  all  the  force  of  reHgion,  law,  and 
public  opinion  united  can  but  imperfectly  restrain.' 
Macaulay  utterly  scouts  the  idea  that  Restoration 
dramatists  deal  with  an  un-moral  world.  *  Morality 
constantly  enters  into  that  world,  a  sound  moraHty, 
and  an  unsoimd  morality;  the  soimd  morality  to  be 
insulted,  derided,  associated  with  everything  mean 
and  hateful;  the  unsound  morality  to  be  set  off  to 
every  advantage,  and  inculcated  by  all  methods, 
direct  and  indirect.  It  is  not  the  fact  that  none  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  conventional  world  feel  rev- 
erence for  sacred  institutions  and  family  ties. 
Fondlewife,  Pinchwife,  every  person  in  short  of 
narrow  understanding  and  disgusting  manners,  ex- 
presses that  reverence  strongly.  The  heroes  and 
heroines,  too,  have  a  moral  code  of  their  own,  an  ex- 
ceedingly bad  one,  but  not,  as  Mr.  Charles  Lamb 
seems  to  think,  a  code  existing  only  in  the  imagination 
of  dramatists.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  code  actually 
received  and  obeyed  by  great  numbers  of  people. 
We  need  not  go  to  Utopia  or  Fairyland  to  find  them.' 
The  final  conclusion  is  driven  home  inexorably.  ^The 
question  is  simply  this,  whether  a  man  of  genius  who  con- 
stantly and  systematically  endeavours  to  make.  .  .  . 
[evil]  character  attractive,  by  imiting  it  with  beauty, 


lO  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

grace,  dignity,  spirit,  a  high  social  position,  popu- 
larity, literature,  wit,  taste,  knowledge  of  the  world, 
bjilhant  success  in  every  undertaking,  does  or  does 
not  make  an  ill  use  of  his  powers.  We  own  that  we 
are  unable  to  understand  how  this  question  can  be 
answered  in  any  way  but  one.' 

Macaulay's  blunt  dogmatism  has  sometimes  irri- 
tated the  artistic  sympathies  of  sensitive  critics. 
Some  have  been  tempted  to  err  with  Lamb  rather  than 
take  sides  with  Macaulay.  Yet  contemporary  evi- 
dence is  significant  in  this  clash  between  sense  and 
sensibility.  It  will  suffice  to  mention  two  differ- 
ent but  equally  convincing  documents.  Hamilton's 
Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont  gives  testimony  of  the 
court ;  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys  gives  testimony  of 
the  city.  The  Diary  is  both  too  extensive  and  too 
familiar  to  permit  minute  comment.  Pepys,  himself 
not  unaware  of  human  frailty,  was  doubtless  readier 
to  extenuate  than  to  set  down  aught  in  malice,  yet 
his  pages  echo  the  gossip  and  scandal  of  the  court  of 
the  Merry  Monarch,  the  notes  of  changing  fashions 
and  unchanging  folly  and  vice.  Wide  differences 
there  are  between  the  quaint  entries  in  the  Diary 
of  Pepys  and  the  gay,  vivacious,  graceful  pages  of 
Hamilton,  but  the  differences  are  of  style  rather  than 
of  substance.  In  the  Memoirs  live  again  the  King 
and  his  courtesans,  the  profligate  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
and  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  who  boasted  that  he  had 
been  drunk  for  five  years  at  a  stretch.  To  Hamilton, 
Grammont  is  the  beau  ideal  of  the  age.  'It  is  this 
indefinable  brilliancy,  which,  in/War,  in  love,  in  gam- 
ing, and  in  the  various  stages  of  a  long  life,  has 

/ 

/ 


ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA        ii 

rendered  the  Count  de  Grammont  the  admiration  of 
his  age,  and  the  delight  of  every  country  wlierein  he 
has  displayed  his  engaging  wit,  dispensed  his  generosity 
and  magnificence,  or  practised  his  inconstancy.'  ^ 
Macaulay  might  have  termed  Grammont  an  unprin- 
cipled gambler,  a  dishonourable  adventurer,  and  an 
abandoned  profligate.  Late  in  Hfe  the  ChevaHer 
looked  back  upon  the  past  with  Shallow's  smack  of 
satisfaction  in  'the  days  that  we  have  seen,'  but  with- 
out need  of  magnifying  glasses.  The  adventures 
in  the  Memoirs  are  one  with  the  incidents  of  the 
Restoration  stage.  Miss  Price  and  Miss  Jennings,  in 
merry  mood,  diguise  themselves  as  orange-girls,  visit 
the  theatre,  and  encounter  Beau  Sidney  andKilli- 
grew.  Rochester,  with  the  devihsh  ingenuity  of 
Wycherley's  Horner,  practises  intrigue  in  the  disguise 
of  'a  famous  German  doctor.'  Lady  Chesterfield, 
taken  off  by  her  husband  to  the  country,  consoles 
herself  by  writing  her  lover  of  her  sufferings  in  '  the 
most  horrible  of  prisons'  in  phrases  which  voice 
the  famiHar  sentiments  of  Restoration  heroines  on 
the  stage:  'Whatever  the  country  affords  most 
melancholy,  in  this  season,  presents  itself  to  my  view 
on  all  sides :  surrounded  by  impassable  roads,  out  of 
one  window  I  see  nothing  but  precipices ;  but  wherever 
I  turn  my  eyes  within  doors,  I  meet  those  of  a  jealous 
husband,  still  more  insupportable  than  the  sad  ob- 
jects that  encompass  me.'^  Incidents,  adventures, 
and  attitude  are  one  with  those  of  'artificial  comedy.' 
The  world  of  Restoration  comedy  was  not  Utopia,  but 
London. 

1  Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont,  Goodwin  edition,  I,  3. 
Ubid.,  II,  s-A' 


12  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

The  general  contrasts  drawn  in  the  preceding  pages 
between  Elizabethan  and  Restoration  drama  have 
been  so  unfavourable  to  the  later  period  that  it  may- 
be asked  what  defence  can  be  made  for  Restoration 
drama.  Defence,  it  may  at  once  be  answered,  is 
not  the  business  of  the  historian.  His  task  is  rather 
to  set  forth  the  facts  as  he  finds  them,  and  to  interpret 
them,  to  the  best  of  his  abiHty,  not  as  a  special  pleader 
but  as  an  impartial  judge.  Nor  should  it  be  necessary 
for  him  to  try  to  heighten  lesser  peaks  in  the  range  of 
English  drama  by  Umiting  his  horizon  to  the  im- 
mediate foreground.  It  would  be  possible,  no  doubt, 
since  Gulliver  becomes  a  giant  in  Lilhput,  to  magnify 
the  achievements  of  Restoration  drama  by  lowering 
the  standard  of  judgment.  Study  of  the  beginning 
and  growth  of  modern  EngHsh  drama  does  not, 
however,  need  questionable  aids  to  give  it  value  or 
enhance  its  interest.  Despite  its  limitations  and 
shortcomings,  the  drama  of  the  past  two  centuries 
and  a  half  has  been  linked  too  closely  with  the  lives 
and  interests  of  the  English  people  to  be  dismissed 
as  unworthy  of  serious  notice.  Whether  comedy 
laughs  with  the  sins  of  the  Restoration,  or  weeps  with 
the  sentimentality  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it 
bears  the  form  and  pressure  of  the  age.  Even  when 
tragedy  seems  most  aloof  from  human  hearts,  it  won 
the  plaudits  of  its  passing  day.  ^The  drama's  laws 
the  drama's  patrons  give'  —  at  least,  in  large  measure. 
Furthermore,  in  the  period  whose  development  is 
about  to  be  traced,  the  comedy  of  manners  comes  to 
its  fullest  development.  Tragedy  learns  to  speak  the 
accents  of  prose  as  well  as  the"ca3ehce'13rvef§e7^d 


I  ELIZABETHAN  AND  RESTORATION  DRAMA        13 

finds  suffering  and  sorrow  in  bourgeois  life.  Stage- 
craft schools  itself  with  experience,  and  acting  touches 
noble  heights.  Opera  and  pantomime  rise  to  do 
battle  for  popular  favour  with  regular  drama.  Gain 
and  loss,  success  and  failure,  play  their  parts  in  the 
varying  record.  And  because  the  story  of  modern 
English  drama,  with  its  conflicts  and  struggles,  is 
essentially  human,  it  is  itself  a  great  drama  of  English 
national  life. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,    1642-1660 

The  period  between  the  closing  of  the  theatres,  in 
1642,  and  the  formal  resumption  of  theatrical  activity 
under  royal  patent,  in  1660,  may  conveniently  be 
termed  the  dramatic  interregnum.  Throughout  this 
period,  especially  toward  its  close,  the  drama  main- 
tained some  semblance  of  life,  but  it  had  no  genuine 
vitality.  During  the  civil  war  most  of  the  actors 
seem  to  have  enlisted  on  the  Royalist  side,  in  natural 
loyalty  to  the  party  which  had  supported  them  against 
Puritan  hostility.  They  had  not  forgotten  that 
Prynne's  attack  upon  them  had  been  visited  with 
fines,  imprisonment,  and  even  physical  punishment. 
Under  the  commonwealth,  however,  the  hand  of  the 
law  was  against  them.  An  ordinance  of  22  October, 
1647,  providing  that  actors  in  'Stage  Plays,  Inter- 
ludes, or  other  Common  Plays*  be  'punished  as 
Rogues,  according  to  Law,'  ^  was  followed  by  the 
drastic  ordinance  of  11  February,  1648,  which  em- 
powered the  Lord  Mayor  and  others  to  destroy 
galleries,  seats,  and  boxes  in  the  theatres,  to  flog 
actors,  and  to  cause  them  to  enter  into  recognizances 
'never  to  Act  or  play  any  Plaies  or  Interludes  any 
more,'  and  to  fine  spectators  for  the  benefit  of  the 

^Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  IX,  490;  W.  C.  Hazlitt,  The 
English  Drama  and  Stage,  pp.  64-65. 

14 


CHAP.  n.    THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660      15 

poor.^  The  distractions  of  civil  war  and  the  severity 
of  the  law  thus  miUtated  alike  against  the  stage. 

The  cessation  of  dramatic  and  theatrical  activity 
between  1642  and  1660  was,  nevertheless,  virtual 
rather  than  absolute.  Even  legal  deterrents  did  not 
prove  wholly  effectual.  'When  the  Wars  were  over,' 
says  Historia  Histrionica:  An  Historical  Account  of 
the  English-Stage  (1699),  'and  the  Royalists  totally 
Subdued;  most  of  'em  [the  actors]  who  were  left 
aHve  gather'd  to  London,  and  for  a  Subsistence 
endeavour'd  to  revive  their  Old  Trade,  privately. 
They  made  up  one  Company  out  of  all  the  Scatter'd 
Members  of  Several;  and  in  the  Winter  before  the 
King's  Murder,  1648,  They  ventured  to  Act  some  Plays, 
with  as  much  caution  and  privacy  as  cou'd  be,  at  the 
Cockpit.''  After  three  or  four  days  they  were  interrup- 
ted while  presenting  a  tragedy  and  carried  off  to  prison 
for  a  time.  'In  Oliver's  time,  they  used  to  Act  pri- 
vately, three  or  four  Miles,  or  more,  out  of  Town,  now 
here,  now  there,'  but  such  performances  were  rather 
surreptitious. 

While  more  ambitious  dramatic  ventures  thus  ran 
the  hazards  of  the  law,  the  edicts  against  stage-plays 
seem  not  to  have  been  applied  rigorously  to  various 
minor  theatrical  pieces.  The  very  title  of  The 
Actors  Remonstrance,  or  Complaint:  for  the  silencing 
of  their  profession,  and  banishment  from  their  severall 
Play-houses  (1643)  calls  attention  to  the  players' 
'grievances,  for  their  restraint ;  especially  since  Stage- 
playes,  only  of  all  pubHke  recreations  are  prohibited; 

iHazlitt,  op.  ciL,  pp.  65-70;  Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  X, 
41-42. 


l6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

the  exercise  at  the  Beares  CoUedge  [Bear-Garden], 
and  the  motions  of  Puppets  being  still  in  force  and 
vigour/  The  pamphlet  itself  protests  that  'Puppit- 
plays,  which  are  not  so  much  valuable  as  the  very 
musique  betweene  each  Act  at  ours,  are  still  up  with 
uncontrolled  allowance,  witnesse  the  famous  motion 
of  Bell  and  the  Dragon,  so  frequently  visited  at 
Holhourne-hridge ;  these  passed  Christmas  Holi- 
dayes.'    To  the  same  effect  runs  the  testimony  of 

^  Francis  Kirkman  as  to  the  production  of  MroUs'^: 
*When  the  publique  Theatres  were  shut  up,  and  the 
Actors  forbidden  to  present  us  with  any  of  their 
Tragedies,  because  we  had  enough  of  that  in  earnest ; 
and  Comedies,  because  the  Vices  of  the  Age  were  too 
lively  and  smartly  represented ;  then  all  that  we  could 
divert  our  selves  with  were  these  humours  and  pieces 
of  Plays,  which  passing  under  the  Name  of  a  merry 
conceited  Fellow,  called  Bottom  the  Weaver,  Simpleton 
the  Smith,  John  Swabber,  or  some  such  title,  were  only 
allowed  us,  and  that  but  by  stealth  too,  and  under 
pretence  of  Rope-dancing,  or  the  like;  and  these 
being  all  that  was  permitted  us,  great  was  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Auditors.'  Kirkman  then  pays  tribute 
to  ^the  incomparable  Robert  Cox,  who  was  not  only 
the  principal  Actor,  but  also  the  Contriver  and  Author 
of  most  of  these  Farces,'  and  points  out  that  Hhese 
Compositions  .  .  .  were  the  fittest  for  the  Actors  to 
Represent,  there  being  Httle  Cost  in  Cloaths,  which 
often  were  in  great  danger  to  be  seized  by  the  then 
Souldiers.' 

^  .  The  IdroUs '^  were  short  pieces,  usually  of  a  comic 
1  Preface  to  The  Wiis:  or,  Sport  upon  Sport  (1673). 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,   1642-1660        17 

nature,  and  often  culled  from  regular  plays.  As 
early  as  1662,  the  bookseller  Francis  Kirkman  pub- 
lished a  collection  of  them  entitled,  The  Wits,  or. 
Sport  upon  Sport.  In  Select  Pieces  of  Drollery^ 
Digested  into  Scenes  by  way  of  Dialogue.  In  the  various 
editions  of  this  popular  work  the  different  terms, 
Mrolls,'  ^humours,'  'droll-humours,'  MroUeries,'  and 
'farces,'  seem  to  be  used  with  little  or  no  distinction 
in  meaning.  The  adoption  of  the  single  term  'droll' 
may,  accordingly,  avoid  confusion.  The  drolls  of 
the  dramatic  interregnum  must  not,  however,  be 
confused  with  the  earUer  puppet-shows  sometimes 
designated  by  the  same  term,  or  with  the  non-dra- 
matic versifications  found  in  such  a  collection  as  the 
Westminster  Drolleries  of  1672.  With  the  revival 
of  formal  drama  after  the  Restoration,  the  drolls 
attracted  less  favour,  but  the  title  of  the  1673  edition 
of  Kirkman's  collection  is  a  valuable  indication  of 
their  previous  scope  and  popularity :  '  The  Wits :  or, 
Sport  upon  Sport.  Being  A  Curious  Collection  of 
several  Drols  and  Farces,  Presented  and  Shewn  For 
the  Merriment  and  Delight  of  Wise  Men,  and  the 
Ignorant:  As  they  have  been  sundry  times  Acted 
In  Publique,  and  Private,  In  London  at  Bartholomew 
In  the  Countrey  at  other  Faires.  In  Halls  and 
Taverns.  On  several  Mountebancks  Stages,  At 
Charing-Cross,  Lincolns-Inn-Fields,  and  other  places. 
By  Several  Stroking  Players,  Fools,  and  Fidlers, 
And  the  Mountebancks  Zanies.  With  loud  Laughter, 
and  great  Applause.  Written  I  know  not  when,  by 
several  Persons,  I  know  not  who;  But  now  newly 
Collected  by  your  Old  Friend  to  please  you,  Francis 
Kirkman.' 


l8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Kirkman's  tribute  to  Robert  Cox  as  '  the  Contriver 
and  Author  of  most  of  these  Farces '  may  prove  some- 
what misleading.  Most  of  these  farces  can,  in  fact, 
be  traced  to  Elizabethan  sources.  The  1672  and 
1673  editions  of  Kirkman's  collection  contain  two 
very  brief  pieces  based  on  the  Old  Testament,  King 
Ahasuerus  and  Queen  Esther,  and  King  Solomon's 
Wisdom,  but  usually  a  marked  preference  is  shown  for 
excerpts  from  Elizabethan  plays.  It  is  preferable 
to  select  for  more  detailed  examination  the  1662 
edition  of  The  Wits,  or,  Sport  upon  Sport,  since  its 
early  date  gives  strong  presumption  that  most  of  the 
pieces  were  used  during  the  interregnum.  This 
collection  contains  twenty-seven  pieces,  of  which  two 
drawn  from  Shakespearean  plays  may  serve  as  con- 
venient examples.  The  Grave-Makers  takes  the 
grave-diggers'  scene  from  Hamlet,  The  Bouncing 
Knight  [Falstaff]  includes  most  of  two  Eastcheap 
tavern  scenes  and  parts  of  the  scenes  that  include 
Falstaff's  description  of  his  ragged  company  and 
his  soliloquy  on  'Honour,'  and  concludes  with  Fal- 
staff's counterfeit  death  on  the  battle  field.  Prince 
Hal's  eulogy,  and  Falstaff's  resurrection.  Striking 
testimony  to  the  popularity  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  of  the  remaining  pieces 
in  this  collection  about  half  are  apparently  from  plays 
in  which  they  either  collaborated  or  had  an  important 
hand.  That  performances  of  Beaumont  and  Flet- 
cher's A  King  and  No  King^  and  Fletcher's  The  Bloody 

1  J.  P.  Collier,  History  of  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  1879  edition, 
II,  37,  40.  Collier's  contradiction  in  dates  does  not  affect  the 
main  fact. 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660         19 

Brother  should  have  been  forcibly  interrupted,^  while 
lighter  passages  from  their  works  appear  to  have 
escaped  censure,  seems  hardly  consistent  with  Macau- 
lay's  famous  dictum  that  the  Puritans  objected  to 
bear-baiting  not  because  it  gave  pain  to  the  bear  but 
because  it  gave  pleasure  to  the  spectators.  Yet 
Kirkman's  Preface  shows  that  various  devices  were 
adopted  to  cloak  the  real  nature  of  some  of  these 
entertainments.  Whatever  the  reasons  were  for  their 
comparative  immunity  from  attack,  the  drolls  main- 
tained effectively  that  comic  spirit  which  needed  only 
the  formal  reopening  of  the  theatres  to  find  free  utter- 
ance. They  bear  significant  testimony  to  the  con- 
tinuity of  Elizabethan  dramatic  tradition  even  during 
the  interregnum. 

Further  proof  of  the  maintenance  of  some  interest  in 
the  drama  during  the  interregnum  may  be  drawn 
from  the  continued  publication  of  dramatic  work.\ 
Various  plays  of  Shirley,  Quarles,  D'Avenant,  Baron, 
the  Killigrews,  Cokayne,  Chamber layne,  and  others, 
appeared  in  print.  Even  under  the  commonwealth, 
Cavalier  resentment  sometimes  found  a  way  to 
vent,  in  printed  drama,  feelings  that  were  debarred 
utterance  on  the  public  stage.  In  1648  were  pub- 
Hshed  the  two  parts  of  a  play  whose  title-pages  give 
sufficient  indication  of  party  feeling :  '  Craf tie  Crom- 
well :  or,  Oliver  ordering  our  New  State.  A  Tragi- 
Comedie.  Wherein  is  discovered  the  Trayterous 
undertakings  and  proceedings  of  the  said  Nol,  and 
his  Levelling  Crew.  Written  by  Mercurius  Melan- 
cholicus'  and  'The  Second  part  of  Crafty  Crumwell 
1  Historia  Histrionica,  1699,  pp.  8-9. 


20  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

or  Oliver  in  his  glory  as  King.  A  Trage  Commedie 
Wherein  is  presented,  the  late  treasonable  undertak- 
ings, and  proceedings,  of  the  Rebells,  their  murther- 
ing  of  Capt.  Burley,  with  their  underhand  workings 
to  betray  their  KING.  Written  by  Marcurius  Prag- 
maticusJ  It  was  a  portent  of  that  Cavalier  spirit 
which,  after  the  Revolution,  could  drop  the  mask 
of  anonymity,  and  turn  to  rend  its  persecutors. 

The  evidence  already  presented  is  enough  to  prove 
that  the  dramatic  interregnum  interrupts,  but  does 
not  wholly  break,  the  continuous  course  of  English 
drama.  Yet  publication  of  plays,  sporadic  attempts 
to  perform  regular  plays,  and  even  frequent  produc- 
tions of  drolls  imparted  to  the  drama  artificial  stimu- 
lus rather  than  genuine  vitality.  As  the  period  of 
the  commonwealth  drew  toward  its  close,  however, 
the  languid  pulse  of  drama  was  quickened  by  the 
stimulus  of  a  more  vital  force.  This  more  definite 
reawakening  of  dramatic  activity  was  due  pri- 
marily to  Sir  William  D  ' Avenant  ( 1 606-1 668) .  In 
D'AvenanFira,Se/as'm"tIiat  of  the  drama  itself,  the 
interregnum  arrested,  but  did  not  fully  check,  dra- 
matic effort.  D'Avenant  himself  may  be  regarded  as 
the  most  conspicuous  Hnk  between  Elizabethan  and 
Restoration  drama.  As  the  successor  of  Ben  Jonson 
to  the  poet  laureateship,  he  is,  in  a  sense,  heir  to  the 
Elizabethans.  More  literally,  tradition  has  sought 
to  link  the  story  of  his  birth  with  the  name  of  Shake- 
speare. Shakespearean  blood  can  be  traced,  at  all 
events,  in  the  veins  of  D'Avenant's  dramatic  adapta- 
tions. His  early  plays,  often  resembling  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's  romantic  dramas,  antedate  the  closing 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660        21 

of  the  theatres;  The  Siese  of  Rhodes  (16 "56)  and  its 
immediate  successors  mark  the  reawakening  of  dra- 
matic impulses  during  the  interregnum ;  his  later  plays 
belong  to  the  opening  of  the  Restoration  period,  but 
are  chiefly  Shakespearean  adaptations.  Through 
him  the  Elizabethan  birthright,  however  debased 
by  the  misuse  of  years,  was  transmitted  to  Restora- 
tion playwrights. 

It  was  natural  that  D'Avenant,  who  had  tasted 
dramatic  success  in  the  decade  before  the  closing 
of  the  theatres,  and  who  had  been  prevented  by  force 
of  adverse  circumstances  from  profiting  by  the  patent 
empowering  him,  in  1639,  to  erect  a  playhouse,  should 
seek  an  early  opportunity  to  resume  his  dramatic 
career.  Under  the  commonwealth,  his  activities  in 
behalf  of  the  RoyaUsts  brought  upon  him  imprison- 
ment and  even  the  fear  of  death.  During  the  closing 
years  of  the  commonwealth,  however,  the  edicts 
against  dramatic  productions  seem  not  to  have  been 
enforced  with  their  former  rigour.  Yet  D'Avenant 
was  careful  to  disguise  the  real  nature  of  his  new 
theatrical  projects.  In  seeking  the  support  of  Sir 
Bulstrode  Whitelocke,  the  Lord  Keeper,  for  his  venture, 
he  took  pains  to  term  his  work  'our  opera.' ^  The 
title-page  of  the  1656  quarto  of  The  Siege  of  Rhodes 
betrays  equal  caution  in  describing  the  piece  as  'Made 
a  Representation  by  the  Art  of  Prospective  in  Scenes, 
And  the  Story  sung  in  Recitative  Musick.'  Scenery 
and  music  thus  became  stalking-horses  under  the 
presentation  of  which  D'Avenant  shot  his  dramatic 

*  Letter  to  Whitelocke,  under  date  3  September,  1656,  Whitelocke's 
Memorials  of  the  English  Affairs,  1732  edition,  p.  650. 


22  ENGLISH  DRAMA 


CHAP. 


bolts.  His  first  tentative  theatrical  essay  was  given 
at  a  private  house,  though  the  taking  of  admission 
fees  gives  to  the  performance  a  quasi-public  character. 
This  First  Days  Entertainment  at  Rutland-House ^ 
By  Declamations  and  Musick :  After  the  manner  of  the 
Ancients,  was  produced  in  1656,  though  it  did  not 
appear  in  print  until  the  following  year.  It  consists 
of  two  disputes,  one  between  Diogenes  and  Aris- 
tophanes on  the  general  question  of  public  entertain- 
ments, the  other  between  *a  Parisian  and  a  Londoner 
in  the  Livery  Robes  of  both  Cities,  who  Declaim 
concerning  the  prae-eminence  of  Paris  and  London.' 
Each  dispute  concludes  with  a  song  and  chorus, 
while  the  four  long  harangues  are  each  preceded 
by  appropriate  music.  The  epilogue  shows  the 
underlying  hope  of  reviving  real  plays  in  its  final 
hint  to  the  audience  to  'get  them  if  you  can.' 

But  D'Avenant  was  not  content  with  suggestion 
merely.  Boldly  developing  the  use  of  music  and 
scenery,  he  produced  in  T];i£,,jM^Mf^^MkQdes  (1656) 
what  has  been  regarded  usually  as  the  first  English 
opera,  and  sometimes  as  the  first  English  heroic 
play.  The  masque,  with  its  music,  sceriei-y,  and 
dancing,  had  already  anticipated  in  private  entertain- 
ments salient  features  which  opera  was  now  to  de- 
velop on  the  regular  stage.  Elements  of  the  heroic 
play  had,  likewise,  already  appeared  in  Elizabethan 
days.  Through  hero-plays  like  Marlowe's  Tambur- 
laine,  through  the  heroic  romances  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher,  through  such  tragi-comedies  as  those  of 
Massinger  and  Shirley,  may  be  traced,  at  least 
roughly,  a  line  of  descent  toward  the  heroic  play. 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660         23 

Long  before  the  Continental  impress  was  stamped 
upon  Restoration  tragedy,  the  English  stage  had 
become  acquainted  with  many  essential  elements  of 
heroic  drama.  Love  and  honour^  had  already  fought 
their  way  through  sensational  entanglements  to 
surprising  denouements.  The  horrors  of  the  early 
tragedy  of  blood  had  been  largely  mitigated,  and 
virtue  and  valour  had  often  been  crowned  not  with 
death,  but  with  victory.  Yet  despite  deep  under- 
currents which  flow  from  early  sources,  the  stream  of 
English  drama  may,  with  The  Siege  of  Rhodes^  be 
said  to  take  a  new  and  noteworthy  turning. 

Whether  or  not  this  piece  is  to  be  regarded  as  a 
heroic  play  is  largely  a  matter  of  arbitrary  definition. 
Those  who  associate  ^ heroic  drama'  primarily  with 
the  use  of  the  'heroic  couplet'  usually  set  as  its  extent 
the  years  from  1664  to  i6:j^  This,  certainly,  is  its 
period  of  fullest  development  and  authority.  Those 
who  prefer  to  accentuate  the  elements  suggested  by 
the  very  term  'heroic'  rather  than  the  strict  rhymed 
verse  form  are  willing  to  admit  wider  limits.  With- 
out attempting  to  settle  a  controversy  whose  conclu- 
sion varies  with  the  premises  adopted,  it  may  be  con- 
venient to  accept  the  strict  limits  set  for  heroic 
drama  proper,  at  the  same  time  insisting  upon  its 
intimate  relation  with  plays  that  fail  to  conform  to 
the  rigid  definition.  Dryden,  the  most  conspicuous 
advocate  and  exemplar  of  the  'heroic  couplet'  in 
tragedy,  did  not  fail  to  acknowledge  that  'for  Heroic 
Plays  ...  the  first  light  we  had  of  them,  on  the 

*  This  is  the  very  title  of  one  of  D'Avenant's  pla3rs,  acted  1634, 
though  not  published  imtil  1649. 


24  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

English  theatre,  was  from  the  late  Sir  William  D'Ave- 
^ant.'  ^    In  presenting,  in  a  semi-historical  atmosphere 
land  inji^  foreign  setting,  "tHemes  of  love  and  valour 
I  that  concern  characters  of  high  rank  moving  before  a 
i  background  of  war,  The  Siege  of  Rhodes  resembles 
1  the  heroic  play  in  essence,  but  it  substitutes  freedom 
^in  verse  forms  for  the  restraint  of  the  '  heroic  couplet.' 
D'Avenant  himself,  in  his  address  'To  the  Reader,' 
gives  interesting  comment  upon  both  the  heroic  and 
poetic  elements  in  his  piece :  '  The  Story  represented 
...  is    Heroical,    and    not  withstanding    the    con- 
tinual hurry  and  busie  agitations  of  a  hot  Siege,  is 
(I  hope)  intelHgibly  convey'd  to  advance  the  Charac- 
ters of  Vertue  in  the  shapes  of  Valor  and  conjugal 
Love.  .  .  .    You  may  inquire,  being  a  Reader,  why  in 
an  heroick  Argument  my  numbers  are  so  often  diver- 
sify'd  and  fall  into  short  fractions ;   considering  that 
a  continuation  of  the  usual  length  of  English  verse 
would  appear  more  Heroical  in  reading.     But  when 
you  are  an  Auditor  you  will  finde  that  in  this,  I 
rather  deserve  approbation  then  need  excuse;    for 
frequent  alterations  of   measure  .  .  .  are  necessary 
to  Recitative  Musick  for  variation  of  Ayres.' 

These  latter  phrases  emphasize  the  fact  that  The 
Siege  of  Rhodes,  however  closely  akin  to  heroic  drama, 
,  was  written  not  as  a  play  but  as  an  opera.  With 
lines  ranging  from  two  to  five  accents  and  variously 
rhymed,  it  was  intended  partly  for  song  and  partly 
for  recitative.  In  a  passage  that  shows  the  novelty 
of  recitative,  and  suggests  its  foreign  origin,  D'Ave- 
nant terms  it  'unpractis'd  here;  though  of  great 
1  Essay  of  Heroic  Plays,  Ker,  I,  149. 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660        25 

reputation  amongst  other  Nations.'  ^  Again  he 
suggests  the  limitations  imposed  by  its  use,  in  de- 
fending the  poverty  of  plot  'because  we  could  not 
convey  it  by  more  than  seven  Persons;  being  con- 
strain'd  to  prevent  the  length  of  Recitative  Musick, 
as  well  as  to  conserve,  without  incmnbrance,  the 
narrowness  of  the  place.'  Each  of  the  five  'Entries' 
into  which  the  opera  is  divided  ends  with  a  chorus. 
The  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  of  the  final  one 
will  sufficiently  show  the  variety  of  verse  form,  while 
the  first  four  fines  quoted  might,  with  some  justice, 
be  applied  to  D'Avenant's  own  poetic  efforts : 

You  began  the  Assault 
With  a  very  long  Hault ; 
And,  as  haulting  ye  came, 
So  ye  went  off  as  lame ; 
And  have  left  our  Alphonso  to  scoff  ye. 
To  himself,  as  a  Daintie, 
He  keeps  his  lanthe; 
Whilst  we  drink  good  Wine,  and  you  drink  but  Coffy. 

In  the  use  of  scenery,  The  Siege  of  Rhodes  de- 
liberately emphasized  an  element  of  theatrical  art 
to  which  the  public  stage  of  the  Elizabethans  had 
been,  in  general,  indifferent.  Court  masques  had 
been  lavishly  set  and  costumed,  and  evidences  are  not 
wanting  of  occasional  attempts  to  enrich  the  back- 
ground of  regular  drama.  Yet  it  would  be  unfair 
to  deny  the  essential  novelty  of  the  conscious  and 
continuous  movement  to  elaborate  scenic  art  which  is 
so  largely  indebted  for  its  impulse  to  D'Avenant. 
Even  hir"' Ornament  which  en  compass 'i  ffie"Scene* 
1  Address  *To  the  Reader'  in  1656  quarto  of  the  play. 


26  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

has  suggestions  of  historical  setting  in  showing  'the 
proper  cognisance  of  the  Order  of  the  Rhodian 
Knights/  and  'on  an  Antique  Shield  the  Crescent  of 
the  Ottomans.''  ^  The  stage  direction  before  the  'First 
Entry'  runs  thus:  'The  Curtain  being  drawn  up,  a 
lightsome  Sky  appear'd,  discov'ring  a  Maritime  Coast, 
full  of  craggy  Rocks,  and  high  CHffs,  with  several 
Verdures  naturally  growing  upon  such  Scituations; 
and,  a  far  off,  the  true  Prospect  of  the  City  Rhodes, 
when  it  was  in  prosperous  estate  :  with  so  much  view 
of  the  Gardens  and  Hills  about  it,  as  the  narrowness 
of  the  Room  could  allow  the  Scene.  In  that  part  of 
the  Horizon,  terminated  by  the  Sea,  was  represented 
the  Turkish  Fleet  making  towards  a  Promontory  some 
few  miles  distant  from  the  Town.'  The  description 
before  the  'Fourth  Entry'  reads:  'The  Scene  is 
vary'd  to  the  Prospect  of  Mount  Philermus:  Arti- 
ficers appearing  at  work  about  that  Castle  which  was 
there,  with  wonderful  expedition,  erected  by  Solyman, 
His  great  Army  is  discover'd  in  the  Plain  below, 
drawn  up  in  Battalia;  as  if  it  were  prepar'd  for  a 
general  Assault.'  D'Avenant  probably  produced 
these  effects  on  small  painted  scenes  or  screens, 
for  his  limitations  of  space  and  cost  are  plainly 
emphasized.  His  Address  to  the  Reader  says, 
'It  has  been  often  wisht  that  our  Scenes  (we  having 
oblig'd  our  selves  to  the  variety  of  Five  changes) 
according  to  the  Ancient  Drammatick  distinctions 
made  for  time)  had  not  been  confin'd  to  eleven  foot 
in  height,  and  about  fifteen  in  depth,  including  the 
places  of  passage  reserv'd  for  the  Musick.  This  is 
^  These  and  the  following  quotations  are  from  the  1656  quarto. 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660        27 

SO  narrow  an  allowance  for  the  Fleet  of  Solyman  the 
Magnificent,  his  Army,  the  Island  of  Rhodes, 
and  the  varieties  attending  the  Siege  of  the  City; 
that  I  fear  you  will  think,  we  invite  you  to  such  a 
contracted  Trifle  as  that  of  the  Caesars  carv'd  upon 
a  Nut.'  The  Prologue  to  the  Second  Part,  in  the 
later  enlargement  of  the  piece, ^  exclaims  that  if  to 
the  poet  were  given  half  the  money 

Which  Faction  gets  from  Fools  to  nourish  Warr; 
Then  his  contracted  Scenes  should  wider  be, 
And  move  by  greater  Engines,  till  you  see 
(Whilst  you  Securely  sit)  fierce  Armies  meet,       , 
And  raging  Seas  disperse  a  fighting  Fleet.  / 

In  The  Cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  in  Peru  (1658)  and  \^ 
The  History  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  (1659),  D'Avenant 
continued  to  mask  dramatic  matter  under  the  garb 
of  music  and  scenery.  Both  pieces  are  described  in 
the  first  quartos  as  'Exprest  by  Instrumentall  and 
Vocall  Musick,  and  by  Art  of  Perspective  in  Scenes, 
&c,'  and  the  Peruvian  setting  in  each  allowed  one 
*  Frontispiece'  or  'Ornament'  to  do  double  duty.^ 
Both  operas,  too,  may  have  owed  their  immunity 
from  Puritan  persecution  partly  to  the  dominant 
English  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  Spaniards.  Their 
real  interest  lies  in  the  continuance  of  the  musical 
elements  of  The  Siege  of  Rhodes,  in  their  kinship 
with  heroic  drama  in  the  choice  of  semi-historical 
material  and  foreign  setting,  in  the  introduction  of 

^  The  Siege  of  Rhodes,  enlarged  into  two  parts,  was  acted  at  Lin- 
coln's Inn  Fields  in  1661,  and  printed  in  1663. 

2  See  'The  Discription  of  the  Frontispiece'  in  the  1659  quarto  of 
The  History  of  S^  Francis  Drake. 


28  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dancing,  and  in  the  evidences  of  some  attempts 
at  appropriate  scenery  and  costumes.  The  *  First 
Entry'  in  The  Cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  is  prefaced 
thus :  ^  The  Audience  are  entertain'd  by  Instrumental! 
Musick  and  a  Symphany  (being  a  wild  Ayre  sutable  to 
the  Region)  which  having  prepar'd  the  Scene,  a 
Lantdchap  of  the  West-Indies  is  discern'd;  distin- 
guisht  from  other  Regions  by  the  parcht  and  bare 
Tops  of  distant  Hills,  by  Sands  shining  on  the 
shores  of  Rivers,  and  the  Natives,  in  feather'd 
Habits  and  Bonnets,  carrying,  in  Indian  Baskets, 
Ingots  of  Gold  and  Wedges  of  Silver.  Some  of  the 
Natives  being  likewise  discerned  in  their  natural 
sports  of  Hunting  and  Fishing.  This  prospect  is 
made  through  a  wood,  differing  from  those  of 
European  CHmats  by  representing  of  Coco-Trees j 
Pines  and  Palmitos;  and  on  the  boughs  of  other  Trees 
are  seen  Munkies,  Apes  and  Parrots;  and  at  farther 
distance  Vallies  of  Sugar-Canes.^  The  Chief  Priest  of 
Peru  is  described  as  '  cloth'd  in  a  Garment  of  Feathers 
longer  then  any  of  those  that  are  worne  by  other 
Natives,  with  a  Bonnet  whose  ornament  of  Plumes 
does  likewise  give  him  a  distinction  from  the  rest, 
and  carryes  in  his  hand  a  guilded  Verge.  He  like- 
wise, because  the  Peruvians  were  worshipers  of 
the  Sun,  carryes  the  Figure  of  the  Sun  on  his  Bonnet 
and  Breast.'  The  'feather'd  habits'  of  the  Indians, 
the  bows,  glaives,  spears,  and  quivers  of  the  Peru- 
vians, the  cloaks,  ruffs,  rapiers,  and  daggers  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  red  coats  of  the  English  are  care- 
fully indicated  in  various  stage  directions. 
In  thus  deliberately  attempting  not  merely  a  more 


n  THE  DRAMATIC  INTERREGNUM,  1642-1660        29 

elaborate  pictorial  background,  but  a  more  faithful 
and  consistent  historical  setting  for  drama,  D'Avenant 
set  in  play  forces  whose  ultimate  results  he  could  not 
have  foreseen.  Yet  even  the  Restoration  stage,  in 
the  brief  years  before  his  death,  witnessed  such 
development  of  scenery,  costume,  and  stagecraft 
that  the  faint-hearted  were  fearful  that  the  noble 
proportions  of  drama  itself  were  being  obscured  imder 
too  sumptuous  a  mantle.  D'Avenant's  later  work 
belongs  to  the  opening  years  of  Restoration  drama. 
But  his  real  significance  in  dramatic  history  lies  in  his 
reawakening  of  dramatic  impulse  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  interregnum.  He  is  at  once  both  follower  and 
leader  —  a  link  between  Elizabethan  and  Restoration 
drama  and  a  forerunner  of  modern  English  drama. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  AND 
OPERA 

The  formal  opening  of  the  period  of  modem  Eng- 
lish drama  may  be  dated  from  the  issuing  by  Charles 
II,  on  21  August,  1660,  of  letters  patent  conferring 
upon  Thomas  KilHgrew  and  Sir  William  D'Avenant 
the  right  to  'erect'  two  companies  of  players.  The 
advent  of  Charles  II  to  the  throne  meant  the  restora- 
tion of  drama,  as  well  as  of  monarchy.  The  grant 
of  21  August  was  of  large  significance.  It  restored  to 
English  drama,  with  the  seal  of  royal  authority, 
rights  and  privileges  of  which  it  has  never  subse- 
quently been  deprived.  Yet  the  act  that  thus  con- 
ferred larger  liberty  upon  the  drama  marks,  in  fact, 
the  creation  of  a  theatrical  monopoly  from  whose 
shackles  the  London  stage  was  not  wholly  freed  for 
almost  three  centuries.  For  the  moment,  however, 
it  was  enough  that  the  ban  on  English  drama  was 
formally  lifted. 

The  way,  indeed,  had  already  been  opened  for  the 
resumption  of  theatrical  activity.  D'Avenant's  pro- 
ductions at  Rutland  House  had  been  followed  by 
the  performances  of  his  operas,  in  1658  and  1659, 
on  the  public  stage  at  the  Cockpit  Theatre,  in  Drury 
Lane.  In  early  February,  1660,  General  Monck 
entered  London,  and  soon  afterward  a  license  for 

30 


CHAP,  in    BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA        31 

acting  was  given  to  John  Rhodes,  a  London  bookseller, 
said  to  have  been  previously  connected  with  the 
Blackfriars  Theatre  as  wardrobe-keeper.  Before  the 
issue  of  the  patent  of  21  August,  three  companies  of 
actors  had  begun  to  be  assembled  —  at  the  Cockpit, 
at  the  Red  Bull,  and  at  SaHsbury  Court,  in  White- 
friars. 

The  royal  grant  to  Killigrew  and  D'Avenant, 
accordingly,  aroused  some  dissensions.  Sir  Henry 
Herbert,  standing  on  his  dignity  as  Master  of  the 
Revels,  protested  to  the  King  against  this  'unjust 
surprize'  which  disregarded  his  authority,  and  sought 
to  discredit  D'Avenant  by  describing  him  as  one  'who 
obtained  leave  of  Oliver  and  Richard  Cromwell  to 
vent  his  operas,  at  a  time  when  your  petitioner  owned 
not  their  authority.'  Even  after  the  failure  of  his 
petition,  Herbert  strove  to  block  D'Avenant's  path 
by  the  assumption  of  rights  of  censorship.  His 
warrant  demanding  that  plays  to  be  acted  at  the 
Cockpit  be  submitted  to  him  that  'they  may  be 
reformed  of  prophanes  and  ribaldry'  fomented  the 
dispute,  but  eventually  the  struggle  ended  with  the 
practical  victory  of  the  patentees.  Meanwhile,  under 
definite  agreement  between  the  two  patentees,  the 
actors  were  divided  into  two  companies.  D'Avenant's 
company  —  known  as  the  Duke  of  York's  —  settled, 
in  1 66 1,  at  the  new  theatre  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields, 
removing  finally  to  Salisbury  Court,  Fleet  Street. 
Killigrew's  company  —  known  as  the  King's  —  was 
definitely  estabhshed,  in  1663,  at  the  Theatre  Royal, 
later  known  as  Drury  Lane. 

D'Avenant's  dramatic  work  after  the  reopening 


32  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

of  the  theatres  is  far  less  significant  than  that  which 
he  inaugurated  during  the  interregnum.  Yet  his 
revivals  of  several  of  his  own  pre-Restoration  plays 
and  his  various  adaptations  from  Elizabethan  drama- 
tists are  definite  Hnks  between  Restoration  and  earUer 
English  drama.  The  Siege  of  Rhodes  was  now  ex- 
panded into  two  parts,  and  two  plays  that  had  been 
produced  by  D'Avenant  in  the  days  of  Charles  I 
were  successfully  revived.  These  were  Love  and 
Honour,  which  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  transi- 
tional plays  between  the  heroic  romances  of  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher  and  the  ^heroic  drama'  of  the 
Restoration,  and  The  Unfortunate  Lovers,  a  tragedy 
pronounced  by  Pepys,  who  witnessed  it  the  day  after 
its  author's  death,  'no  extraordinary  play.'  ^  D'Ave- 
nant's  new  productions  after  the  Restoration  are  chiefly 
adaptations  from  EHzabethan  drama.  Thus,  The  Law 
against  Lovers  (1662)  blends  with  the  darker  tones  of 
Measure  for  Measure  the  lively  accents  of  Benedick 
and  Beatrice ;  The  Rivals  (1664)  alters  The  Two  Noble 
Kinsmen;  Macbeth  (1664  ?)  and  The  Tempest  (1667) 
recast  Shakespeare.  Dryden,  who  assisted  in  the 
alteration  of  The  Tempest,  ascribed  to  D'Avenant  the 
doubtful  credit  for  the  introduction,  as  a  counterpart 
to  Miranda,  of  'a  man  who  has  never  seen  a  woman.' 
The  Playhouse  to  be  Let  (circ.  1663)^  is  a  sort  of  pot- 
pourri, including  such  diverse  elements  as  two  of 
D'Avenant's  interregnum  operas,  a  burlesque  on 
the  story  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  and  a  rendering 
of  Mohere  in  broken  Enghsh.    *The  Man's  the  Master 

^  Diary,  8  April,  1668.    Wheatley  edition,  VII,  397- 
2  Printed  in  the  1673  folio  of  D'Avenant's  Works, 


in  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  33 

(1668),  a  comedy  with  borrowings  from  Scarron,  was 
revived  as  late  as  1775. 

D^Avenant's  importance  in  English  dramatic  his- 
tory is  to  be  measured  not  by  his  own  actual  dramatic 
product  but  by  the  far-reaching  and  powerful  forces 
which  he  set  in  motion.  Crude  and  ineffective  seem  [ 
to  the  modern  reader  his  dramatic  efforts,  yet  to 
them  must  be  accorded  a  prominence  denied  to  many 
works  of  greater  Hterary  worth.  The  Siege  of  Rhodes 
is  a  distinct  innovation  whose  historical  significance 
is  out  of  all  proportion  with  its  intrinsic  merits.  It 
remains  one  of  the  most  notable  landmarks  in  the 
course  of  English  drama.  In  reviving  theatrical 
performances,  in  regularly  employing  actresses  and 
movable  scenery,  in  heralding  the  'heroic  drama,' 
and  in  introducing  opera,  D'Avenant  not  merely  set  I 
the  fashion  for  early  Restoration  playwrights,  but 
stirred  impulses  that  have  powerfully  affected  the 
whole  course  of  modern  English  dramatic  develop- 
ment. Yet  his  merits  as  a  leader  are  enforced  by  his 
services  as  a  follower  of  the  Elizabethans.  Through 
the  dark  years  of  the  interregnum  he  kept  alive  some 
memory  of  a  great  national  dramatic  tradition.  The 
fire  of  the  Elizabethans  had  well-nigh  burned  itself 
out,  but  D'Avenant  did  not  suffer  its  last  sparks  to 
become  extinct. 

Like  D'Avenant,  Thomas  Killigrew  (161 2-1683) 
is  a  Hnk  between  Elizabethan  and  Restoration 
drama.  Some  of  his  plays,  among  them  several 
tragi-comedies  in  which  the  romantic  vein  of  Fletcher 
is  debased  by  extravagant  conception  and  surcharged 
sentiment,  appeared  on  the  public  stage  before  the 


34  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Civil  War.  During  the  interregnum,  in  the  course 
of  a  protracted  foreign  sojourn,  he  continued  to  write 
plays.  After  the  reopening  of  the  theatres,  he  re- 
vived some  of  his  pre-Restoration  dramas.  Pepys 
witnessed  Claracilla  on  4  July,  1661,  and  on  11  October, 
1664,  recorded  the  suggestive  comment  of  Luellin 
on  the  revival  of  KilUgrew's  early  comedy.  The 
Parson^ s  Wedding  :  'What  a  bawdy  loose  play  this 
''Parson's  Wedding"  is,  that  is  acted  by  nothing 
but  women  at  the  King's  house.'  The  Restoration 
stage  had  become  so  quickly  habituated  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  actresses  that  it  had  discovered  a  novel 
way  to  whet  the  appetites  of  playgoers.  It  is  as 
a  'merry  droll'  —  to  borrow  a  phrase  from  Pepys  — 
that  Thomas  Killigrew  seems  to  have  impressed  the 
Merry  Monarch  and  his  followers.  'Tom  Elilligrew 
hath  a  fee  out  of  the  Wardrobe  for  cap  and  bells  under 
the  title  of  the  King's  Foole  or  Jester,'  —  so  writes 
Pepys,  13  February,  1668,  —  'and  may  with  privilege 
revile  or  jeere  anybody,  the  greatest  person,  without 
offence,  by  the  privilege  of  his  place.'  His  serious 
dramatic  efforts  seem,  for  the  most  part,  laboured,  and 
most  of  the  pieces  collected  in  the  1664  folio  of  his 
works  may  be  dismissed  as '  closet-dramas,'  but  in  some 
of  his  comic  passages,  whetted  with  the  zest  of  inde- 
cency, there  are  suggestions  of  the  *many  merry 
stories'  which  estabHshed  his  reputation  as  a  wit. 

In  turning  from  an  account  of  the  dramatic  work 
of  D'Avenant  and  Killigrew  to  a  broader  survey  of 
the  Restoration  drama  under  the  leadership  of  the 
two  patentees,  it  is  well  to  emphasize  one  fact  of 
vital  importance.  fThe  roots  of  Restoration  drama 


m  BEGINNINGS   OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  35 

lie  in  Elizabethan  soil.  [Yet  the  foreign  graftings 
upon  English  stock  have  often  attracted  more  at- 
tention than  the  native  growth.  Dryden  and  his 
followers  based  their  theories  largely  on  Gallic  rules 
and  conventions  and  their  practice  on  Continental 
models,  but  it  is  wholly  misleading  to  regard  Restora- 
tion drama  as  an  essentially  foreign  product.  Comedy 
felt  the  influence  of  Jonson  as  well  as  of  MoHere,  and 
tragedy  pointed  backward  to  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
as  well  as  to  Corneille  and  Racine.  Dryden  could 
preach  classical  doctrines  of  the  drama  and  admire 
Shakespeare.  Theory  might  seek  to  separate  tragedy 
from  comedy,  but  the  tragi- comedies  of  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher  still  held  the  stage.  The  ^heroic  drama' 
borrowed  consciously  from  foreign  sources,  yet  in- 
herited no  less  surely  an  English  birthright.  Not 
seldom  the  hand  is  the  hand  of  France,  but  the  voice 
is  the  voice  of  England.  The  drama  of  Dryden's 
period  is  not  the  projection  across  the  Channel  of  the 
straight  line  of  GalUc  convention ;  it  is  the  resultant 
of  English  and  Continental  forces. 

The  reopening  of  the  theatres  brought  the  revival  of 
numerous  Elizabethan  plays.  John  Downes,  prompter 
at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre  during  practically 
the  entire  Restoration  period,  gives  ^  a  list  of  fifteen 

*  Principal  Old  Stock  Plays'  acted  during  the  earlier 
years  of  the  Theatre  Royal,  later  known  as  the  Drury 
Lane.  Two  plays  are  by  Dryden,  three  by  Shake- 
speare, three  by  Jonson,  seven  by  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher.     A  supplementary  list  of  old  plays  which 

*  were  Acted  but  now  and  then ;  yet  being  well  Per- 

*  Roscius  Anglicanus,  1708,  pp.  3-8. 


36  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

formed,  were  very  Satisfactory  to  the  Town '  consists 
largely  of  works  by  Shakespeare,  Jonson,  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  and  Shirley.  Adaptations  of  still  other 
Shakespearean  plays  gave  them  at  least  counterfeit 
presentment  on  the  stage.  Though  his  romantic  com- 
edies were  denied  the  favour  shown  to  The  Merry  Wives 
of  Windsor,  Shakespeare's  tragedies  were  reanimated 
by  the  genius  of  Better  ton.  Blurred  and  imperfect 
as  was  the  Restoration  vision,  it  was  never  blind  to 
Elizabethan  achievement.  The  interregnum  had 
weakened,  but  not  broken,  the  continuous  chain  of 
English  drama. 

With  the  Restoration,  the  pent-up  forces  of  Cavalier 
sentiment  that  had  found  but  narrow  outlets  under 
the  commonwealth  burst  the  barriers.  The  anony- 
mous attacks  upon  Cromwell  in  such  printed  dramas 
of  the  interregnum  as  those  previously  described  now 
gave  way  to  open  animosity.  Early  in  1660,  John 
Tatham  (fl.  1 63  2-1 664),  whose  early  dramatic 
efforts  before  the  closing  of  the  theatres  had  been 
followed  by  productions  of  city  pageants  during  the 
closing  years  of  the  interregnum,  produced  'at  the 
Private  House  in  Dorset-Court,^  ^  The  Rump,  or  the 
Mirrour  of  the  Late  Times.  Some  of  the  characters 
are  thinly  disguised  by  the  transparent  trick  of  in- 
verting their  names  —  Bertlam  for  Lambert,  Wood- 
fleet  for  Fleetwood  —  but  others  are  introduced 
without  semblance  of  pretence.  The  abusive  satire 
does  not  respect  sex,  for  Lambert's  wife  and  Crom- 
well's widow  are  alike  victims.  The  bitter  Cavalier 
feeling  of  The  Rump  found  expression  in  various 
^  See  title-page  of  1660  edition. 


in  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  37 

dramatic  pieces  not  produced  on  the  stage.  Of  these 
it  is  enough  to  cite  two  early  examples.  CromwelVs 
Conspiracy  (printed  1660)  represents  Cromwell  in  guilty- 
intrigue  with  Mrs.  Lambert,  and  in  Hells  Higher  Court 
of  Justice  (printed  1661)  the  'damned  plagues'  devised 
for  his  punishment  seem  adequate  even  for  one  said 
to  deserve  'all,  Nay  more  then  ever  hell  yet  knew.' 

The  virulence  of  Cavalier  feeHng  was  tempered 
to  milder  satire  upon  the  Puritans  by  Abraham 
Cowley  (1618-1667)  in  Cutter  of  Coleman-Street 
(1661).  This  piece  was  a  revision  of  The  Guardian, 
which  had  been  acted  at  Cambridge  in  1641,  printed 
in  1650,  and,  according  to  its  author,^  privately  pre- 
sented several  times  during  the  interregnum.  It  is  a 
commentary  on  the  times  that  Cutter  of  Coleman- 
Street  aroused  resentment  on  account  of  its  supposed 
strictures  on  the  King's  party.  RoyaKst  sentiment 
did  not  relish  the  frank  portrayal  of  a  dnmken  Cavalier 
in  the  person  of  Colonel  Jolly,  and  Cowley  deemed  it 
necessary  in  an  indignant  preface  to  his  first  edition 
(1663)  to  answer  charges  of  disloyalty  because 
Cutter,  'a  merry  sharking  fellow  about  the  Town,' 
was  represented  as  'pretending  to  have  been  a  Colonel 
in  the  Kings  Army.'  Yet  Cutter  mocks  Puritan 
speech,  garb,  and  the  habit  of  referring  everything  to 
visions,  and  ends  by  marrying  Puritan  Tabitha  and 
making  her  drimk  and  lewd.  Apart  from  its  political 
interest,  Cowley's  comedy  has  some  effective  strokes 
of  characterization,  and  Lamb  found  it  'the  link 
between  the  Comedy  of  Fletcher  and  of  Congreve.'  ^ 

*  Preface  to  first  edition  of  Cutter  of  Coleman-Street,  1663. 

*  Specimens  of  English  Dramatic  Poets,  in  Lamb's  WorkSt  Lucas 
edition,  IV,  432,  footnote. 


38  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Though  the  opening  years  of  the  Restoration 
theatres  seem  largely  devoted  to  the  revival  of  earlier 
dramas  and  to  the  novelty  of  poHtical  dramatic 
satire,  there  were  early  indications  of  more  significant 
dramatic  progress.  In  the  work  of  John  Wilson 
(1627  ?-i696),  Recorder  of  Londonderry,  Restoration 
comedy  is  at  once  quickened  by  EHzabethan  impulse 
and  shown  to  be  capable  of  genuine  comic  achieve- 
ment. The  comedies  of  Ben  Jonson  were  speedily 
installed  as  favourites  on  the  Restoration  stage. 
Pepys  saw  The  Silent  Woman,  7  January,  1661,  and 
Downes  mentions  it,  together  with  Volpone  and  The 
Alchemist,  as  among  the  principal  old  stock  plays  at 
the  Theatre  Royal.  John  Wilson,  though  too  vigorous 
to  be  dismissed  merely  as  an  imitator,  fell  naturally 
under  Jonson's  influence.  In  the  Preface  to  The 
Cheats  (written  1662)^  he  says:  Xomedy,  either  is, 
or  should  be,  the  true  Picture  of  Vertue,  or  Vice; 
yet  so  drawn,  as  to  shew  a  man  how  to  follow  the  one, 
and  avoid  the  other.'  The  Cheats  is  preeminently  a 
'humour  comedy,'  with  deception,  in  its  various 
forms,  as  the  vice  depicted.  Bilboe  and  Titere  Tu 
usurp  the  titles  of  Major  and  Captain,  though  they 
are  but  common  bullies ;  Runter  is  a  pretended  legal 
authority ;  Scruple  is  a  hypocrite  —  a  Nonconformist 
who  conforms  for  a  living  of  £300,  but  goes  back  to 
his  flock  for  £400  by  'natural  affection' ;  Mopus  is  a 
quack  astrologer.  The  strength  of  the  comedy  lies 
rather  in  characters  and  in  dialogue  than  in  plot. 
In  The  Projectors  (printed  1665)  the  influence  of 
Jonson  shows  in  characters  like  Sir  Gudgeon  Credu- 
1  See  title-page  of  first  edition,  printed  1664. 


in  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA 


39 


lous,  the  miser,  Suckdry,  the  usurer,  and  Leanchops, 
the  servant.  The  very  names  of  the  characters 
reveal  the  habit  which  Jonson  popularized  in  *  humour 
comedy.' 

The  generous  treatment  usually  accorded  to 
Wilson's  dramatic  work  by  modern  critics  has  tended 
perhaps  to  magnify  his  real  position  with  his  contem- 
poraries. The  Cheats  was  reprinted  in  each  of  the 
remaining  decades  of  the  century  and  had  occasional 
performances  as  late  as  1727,  yet  theatrical  chroniclers 
of  the  day,  like  Downes,  are  apt  to  give  it  little  or  no 
mention.  In  a  letter  of  28  March,  1663,  Abraham 
Hill  says:  'The  new  play,  called  The  Cheats,  has 
been  attempted  on  the  stage ;  but  it  is  so  scandalous, 
that  it  is  forbidden.'  ^  Genes t  is  so  sceptical  of  the 
actual  production  of  The  Projectors  that  he  includes 
it  with  Wilson's  vigorous  blank-verse  tragedy,  Andr on- 
ions Comnenius  (printed  1664),  in  his  long  list  of 
'Plays  not  acted.'  Belphegor,  or  The  Marriage  of 
the  Devil,  described  in  the  edition  of  1691  as  'lately 
acted  at  the  Queen's  Theatre  in  Dorset-Garden,'  had 
a  tardy  posthumous  hearing.  Even  the  Biographia 
Dramatica  dismisses  Wilson  briefly  as  'the  author  of 
four  plays.'  No  reader  who  has  found  relief  from  the 
dull  monotony  of  so  many  lesser  contemporary  play- 
wrights in  Wilson's  best  passages  will  seek  to  disparage 
his  dramatic  merits.  Yet  the  weight  of  evidence 
seems  to  point  toward  less  decisive  assertion  of  his 
immediate  dramatic  prominence  and  of  his  influence 
upon  his  contemporaries.  None  the  less  he  remains 
an  early  Restoration  follower  of '  the  tribe  of  Ben,'  and 
*  Familiar  Letters  of  Abraham  Hill,  1767,  p.  103. 


40  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

a  proof  that  the  revived  ^humour  comedy'  could 
create  as  well  as  imitate. 

While  frequent  revivals,  adaptations,  and  imita- 
tions   of    Elizabethan    drama    were    thus    exerting 
potent  influence  upon  the  early  dramatic  productions 
k-  after  the  reopening  of  the  theatres,  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  scenic  and  other  theatrical  novelties  tended 
more  and, more  to  differentiate  the  Restoration  stage 
from  the  Elizabethan.     Not  in  the  written  drama,  but 
in  the  conditions  of  its  presentation,  are  to  be  found 
the  most  striking  early  evidences  of  a  new  era  in  the 
development  of  the  theatre.     The' influence  of  the 
theatrical  innovations  upon   the   drama  itself  was 
speedily  recognized.   Hardly  had  the  Patent  Theatres 
'  been  well  established  when  Richard  Flecknoe,  in  A 
Short  Discourse  of  the  English  Stage, ^  uttered  a  warning 
i  against  the  danger  of  allowing  stage  setting  to  dis- 
I  tract  attention  from  the  drama  proper.     'Now,  for 
i  the  difference  betwixt  our  Theaters  and  those  of  former 
I  times,  they  were  but  plain  and  simple,  with  no  other 
■:  Scenes,  nor  Decorations  of  the  Stage,  but  onely  old 
:  Tapestry,  and  the  Stage  strew'd  with  Rushes,  (with 
t  their  Habits  accordingly)  whereas  ours  now  for  cost  and 
\  ornament  are  arrived  to  the  heighth  of  Magnificence ; 
:  but  that  which  makes  our  Stage  the  better,  makes  our 
I  Playes   the   worse   perhaps,    they   striving   now   to 
\v  make  them  more  for  sight,  then  hearing ;  whence  that 
'^  solid  joy  of  the  interior  is  lost,  and  that  benefit 
which  men  formerly  received  from  Playes,  from  which 
they  seldom  or  never  went  away,  but  far  better  and 
wiser  then  they  came.'    Furthermore,  in  the  prac- 
*  Attached  to  Love's  Kingdom.  A  Pastoral  Trage-Comedyy  1664. 


m  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  41 

tice  that  became  well  established  during  the  next 
decade  of  transforming  tragedy  into  opera,  the  change 
was  ejffected  in  large  part  not  merely  by  the  use 
of  music,  but  by  the  prominent  introduction  of 
scenery  and  stage  devices.  Of  this,  Downes  gives 
abundant  contemporary  evidence.  D'Avenant's 
alteration  of  Macbeth  was  'drest  in  all  it's  Finery, 
as  new  Cloath's,  new  Scenes,  Machines,  as  flyings 
for  the  Witches';^  The  Tempest  'was  made  into 
an  opera  .  .  .  having  all  New  in  it;  as  Scenes, 
Machines;  particularly,  one  Scene  Painted  with 
Myriads  of  Ariel  Spirits;  and  another  flying  away, 
with  a  Table  Furnisht  out  with  Fruits,  Sweet  meats, 
and  all  sorts  of  Viands' ;2  'In  February  1673.  The 
long  expected  Opera  of  Psyche,  came  forth  in  all  her 
Ornaments ;  new  Scenes,  new  Machines,  new  Cloaths, 
new  French  Dances:  This  Opera  was  Splendi[d]ly 
set  out,  especially  in  Scenes;  the  Charge  of  which 
amounted  to  above  800  /.'  ^  The  very  success  of  these 
devices  in  opera  reacted  upon  the  regular  drama,  so 
that  tragedy  shows  a  new  and  increasing  reliance 
upon  spectacular  effects. 

Detailed  account  of  various  changes  in  scenery, 
costume,  and  stage  machinery  belongs  rather  to 
theatrical  than  to  dramatic  history.  Yet  it  is  im- 
portant to  recognize  that  the  acted  drama  is  never 
independent  of  the  conditions  attending  its  production. 
Even  the  crude  settings  of  D'Avenant's  operas  show 
that  ejfforts  to  visualize  the  drama's  scenes  cannot  fail 

*  Roscius  Anglicanus,  p.  33. 
*7i»«/.,  p.  34. 
*Ibid.yp.ss, 


42  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

to  raise  questions,  however  imperfectly  they  may  be 
answered,  as  to  appropriateness  of  scene  and  costume. 
The  introduction  of  movable  scenery  is,  furthermore, 
not  without  direct  influence  on  the  Restoration 
limitation  of  scenes  as  compared  with  the  free  practice 
of  the  Elizabethan  stage.  Nor  is  it  merely  the  scene- 
shifter  with  whom  the  playwright  must  now  reckon. 
When  the  dramatist  is  no  longer  left  alone  to  paint 

I  the  moonlit  avenue  at  Belmont  or  the  fairy  wood 
outside  Athens,  poetry  of  words  may  clash  with 
prose  of  paint.  Even  Puff  discovered  that  a  clock 
striking  four  in  the  morning  'saves  a  description  of  the 
rising  sun  and  a  great  deal  about  gilding  the  eastern 

I  hemisphere.^  There  need  be  no  attempt  to  seek  in 
the  increasing  attention  to  scenic  art  a  vain  excuse 
for  the  dull  fancies  of  many  Restoration  playwrights, 
yet  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  very  poverty 

{of  Elizabethan  setting  doubtless. stimulated  the  wealth 
of  Shakespearean  descriptions.  The  habitual  em- 
ployment of  actresses  on  the  Restoration  stage  may, 
likewise,  be  held  to  have  influenced  a  drama  which 
bent  its  energy  largely  to  a  licentious  comedy  of  in- 
trigue, and  which  speedily  found  ways  to  whet 
interest  by  the  presentation  of  plays  given  wholly  by 
actresses  and  by  capping  tragedy  with  epilogues  whose 
coarseness  was  accentuated  in  a  woman's  mouth.  In 
so  far,  then,  as  these  radical  innovations  of  the 
estoration  stage  changed  the  environment  of  the 
laywright,  they  directly  influenced  his  dramatic 
product. 

In  reviewing  the  early  activities  of  the  Restoration 
theatre,  it  has  seemed  advisable  to  defer  until  a  separate 


Ill  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  43 

chapter  discussion  of  the  dramatic  work  and  influence 
of  the  most  prominent  Restoration  dramatist.  Yet, 
both  to  summarize  the  account  already  presented  and 
to  enlarge  the  scope  of  subsequent  discussion,  it  is 
desirable  to  resolve,  if  possible,  the  component 
forces  which  have  their  resultant  in  Dryden^s  dra- 
matic work.  The  dominant  influence  on  English 
drama  during  the  interregnum  and  the  opening  years 
of  the  Restoration  period  was,  as  has  been  seen, 
English.  The  Elizabethan  tradition  was  continued 
through  D'Avenant's  essentially  heroic  themes  to 
the  'heroic  drama'  of  Dryden  and  Orrery,  and 
through  MroU  humours,'  culled  chiefly  from  Eliza- 
bethan plays,  to  Jonsonian  'humour  comedies'  like 
those  of  Wilson.  It  was  likewise  enforced  by  the 
Restoration  adaptations  of  Shakespeare  and  the 
stage  revivals  of  Elizabethan  plays. 

As  the  decade  advanced,  nevertheless,  alien  in- 
fluences asserted  themselves  with  increasing  power. 
In  The  Siege  of  Rhodes  D'Avenant  had  already 
introduced  English  opera,  using  recitative  music 
which  he  declared  to  be  'unpractis'd  here;  though  of 
great  reputation  amongst  other  Nations.'  His  words 
raise  at  once  the  question  of  foreign  influence  upon 
English  opera.  Too  much  stress  should  not  be  laid 
on  D'Avenant's  chance  phrase.  The  facile  assump- 
tion that  early  English  opera  is  the  product  of  French 
influences  is  dangerous.  Under  the  protection  of 
Mazarin,  Italian  opera  had  been  carried  into  France 
as  early  as  1645.  The  real  development  of  French 
opera,  however,  dates  only  from  the  decade  of  the 
seventies,    a   period    subsequent    to    the   operas   of 


44  ENGLISH  DRAMA 

D^Avenant  and  other  English  writers.  As  operatic 
tendencies  became  accentuated  in  France,  dramatists 
like  Corneille,  Moliere,  and  Quinault  had  more  or 
less  to  do  with  its  libretti.  All  three,  in  fact,  contrib- 
uted to  Psyche  (167 1),  whose  success  turned  Quinault 
to  writing  for  Lulli,  its  composer,  libretti  which 
thoroughly  established  the  popularity  of  French 
opera.  The  first  French  opera  has  been  recently  de- 
clared^ to  be  the  Pomone  (1671)  of  Cambert  and  Pierre 
Perrin,  and  the  popular  collaborations  of  Lulli  and 
Quinault  begin  only  in  the  very  year,  1673,  when 
Shad  well  turned  The  Tempest  into  an  opera.  Un- 
questionably the  popularity  of  opera  in  France,  and 
its  occasional  actual  transfer  to  the  English  stage, 
stimulated  operatic  activity  in  England,  especially 
in  the  decadfe  which  produced  Matthew  Locke's 
music  to  Psyche  and  the  earliest  of  Purcell's  operas, 
Dido  and  A  eneas  ( 1 680) .  Yet  a  score  or  so  of  years  had 
already  elapsed  since  the  production  of  The  Siege 
of  Rhodes.  Without  attempting  to  disprove  wholly 
the  foreign  influence  upon  early  EngHsh  opera  which 
D'Avenant'sown  words  imply,  it  would  seem  that  the 
case  should  not  rest  here.  Two  reasons  naturally 
suggest  themselves  to  account  largely  for  D'Avenant's 
introduction  of  English  opera  —  his  previous  practice 
in  the  masque  and  his  desire  to  cloak,  under  a  novel 
disguise,  the  real  nature  of  his  dramatic  efforts.  His 
early  operas  are  not  an  alien  Continental  product. 
>y  In  a  word,  French  influence  was  more  potent  in  the  later  I 
development  of  Restoration  opera  than  at  its  outset.  \ 
^  Of  Continental  influences  upon  Restoration  drama 

^C.  H.  C.  Wright,  A  History  of  French  Literature,  191 2,  p.  361. 


nr  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  45 

proper  —  as  distinguished  from  its  by-product,  opera, 
—  two  deserve  particular  attention.  These  are  the 
Spanish  and  the  French.  Broadly  speaking,  Eliza- 
bethan drama  had  been  but  slightly  affected  by 
Spanish  influences.  Tudor  dramatists  had  occasion- 
ally introduced  Spanish  scenes  or  characters  for  the 
sake  of  variety,  and  had  at  times  drawn  from  Spanish 
sources  some  suggestions  for  plot.  Later  play- 
wrights before  the  Restoration  had  borrowed,  some- 
times directly,  but  more  often  indirectly,  from  Spanish 
originals.  Usually,  as  in  the  familiar  instance  of 
Fletcher's  obligations  to  the  prose  of  Cervantes, 
material  had  been  drawn  rather  from  non-dramatic 
than  from  dramatic  Spanish  literature.  Under 
Charles  I,  there  are  signs  of  an  interest  in  Spanish 
drama  which  was  continued  after  the  reopening  of 
the  theatres.  KilUgrew's  early  comedy.  The  Parson^s 
Weddings  successfully  produced  on  the  Restoration 
stage  in  1664,  drew  from  Calderon.  Adaptations 
by  George  Digby,  Earl  of  Bristol,  of  two  comedies  by 
Calderon  were  acted,  according  to  Downes,  ^  between 
1662  and  1665,  and  the  publication  of  Digby's  Elvira, 
in  1667,  is  further  proof  of  his  interest  in  Calderon. 
Sir  Samuel  Tuke^s  Adventures  of  Five  Hours  (1663)  —  in 
contrast  with  which  Pepys  deemed  Othello  *a  mean 
thing'  —  adapted  a  Spanish  play  ascribed  to  Antonio 
Coello.  Other  plays  during  the  first  decade  of  the 
Restoration  which  seem  to  show  Spanish  influence  are 
Dryden's  Rival-Ladies  (1664)  and  his  Evening^ s  Love 
(1668),  Orrery's  Guzman  (circ.  1669),^  and  St.  Serfe's 

^  Roscius  Anglicanus,  p.  26. 

2  Pepys  mentions  its  anonymous  production,   16   April,   1669. 
Diaryj  Wheatley  edition,  VIII,  296. 


46  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Tarugo^s  Wiles  (1668).^  Translations,  such  as  those 
of  Sir  Richard  Fanshawe  (printed  1670-1671)  from 
Antonio  de  Mendoza,  give  additional  evidences  of 
attention  to  Spanish  drama,  but  deserve  only  inci- 
dental mention  in  a  record  primarily  concerned  with 
actual  stage  productions. 

The  slender  thread  of  Spanish  weave  which  is  thus 
apparent  in  the  fibre  of  early  Restoration  drama  is 
discernible  from  time  to  time  in  the  texture  of  later 
English  drama.  Wycherley,  Mrs.  Behn,  and  Crowne, 
in  the  later  seventeenth  century,  and  Steele,  Gibber, 
and  Mrs.  CentHvre  in  the  early  eighteenth  century 
may  serve  as  sufiicient  examples  of  the  continuance  of 
Spanish  influence,  however  faint  at  times,  upon 
English  dramatists.  In  general,  however,  Spanish 
"^  drama,  or  even  Spanish  literature,  made  but  minor 
contribution  to  English  drama  of  the  Restoration. 
Apart  from  its  occasional  suggestions  for  plot, 
Spanish  drama  may  have  somewhat  stimulated  early 
Restoration  tendency  toward  the  comedy  of  intrigue. 
In  a  familiar  passage,  Scott  declared^  that  'the 
Spanish  comedy,  with  its  bustle,  machinery,  disguise, 
and  complicated  intrigue,  was  much  more  agreeable' 
to  the  taste  of  Restoration  audiences  than  'regular 
comedy  .  .  .  depending  upon  delicate  turns  of  expres- 
i-sion,  and  nicer  delineations  of  character.'  Yet  this 
must  not  be  mistaken  for  proof  of  the  dominance  of 
Spanish  influence  over  Restoration  comedy.  From 
Etherege  onward,  the  'artificiar  Restoration  comedy 

*  St.  Serfe  borrowed  from  Moreto's  No  puede  ser,  a  source  from 
which  Crowne  drew  to  better  advantage  in  his  Sir  Courtly  Nice  (1685). 
'  Life  of  John  Dryden,  Scott-Saintsbury  edition  of  Dryden,  I,  62. 


< 


m  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  47 

of  manners  is  largely  characterized  by  a  grace  and  flu- 
ency of  prose  dialogue  which,  in  Congreve,  is  carried 
even  to  indifference  toward  dramatic  action.  The 
bustle  and  machinery  of  Spanish  comedy  actually  af- 
fected but  slightly  the  course  of  English  dramatic  de- 
velopment. The  indebtedness  of  Restoration  play- 
wrights to  Spanish  sources  is  neither  considerable  in 
extent  nor  potent. 

Far  more  significant  in  its  bearings  upon  Restora- 
tion drama  was  French  influence.  French  drama, 
French  dramatic  theory,  and  French  romance  affected 
English  writers  of  the  period  so  notably  that  it  was 
once  almost  habitual  to  regard  Restoration  drama 
as  an  essentially  Gallicized  product.  In  its  simplest 
form,  this  theory  held  that  Charles  II  and  his  followers 
returned  from  CavaHer  exile  on  the  Continent  dom- 
inated by  French  dramatic  standards  which  forth- 
with gave  to  English  drama  its  primary  stimulus 
and  determined  its  content,  form,  and  general  charac- 
ter. The  ease  with  which  proofs  may  be  amassed 
of  direct  Gallic  influence  upon  Restoration  plays 
doubtless  contributed  to  the  wide  acceptance  of  this 
facile  theory.  Its  fault  lies  not  in  its  underlying 
elements  of  partial  truth,  but  in  its  gross  exaggeration. 
It  would  be  an  eqiial  error  to  belittle  evidences  of 
French  influence  upon  English  drama,  some  of  which 
are  too  obvious  to  escape  even  a  superficial  reader. 
Translations,  adaptations,  and  imitations  of  French/ 
drama  are  numerous  and  important.  Moliere  was! 
despoiled  by  English  writers  of  comedy;  Corneille, 
and  later  Racine,  left  indubitable  marks  upon  English 
tragedy.    Potent,  especially,  was  the  force  of  French 


48  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dramatic  theory.  Yet  not  even  the  multiple  proofs  of 
Gallic  graftings  on  the  stock  of  Restoration  drama 
can  obscure  the  contention  that  its  roots  lie  in  English 
soil.  The  stage  which  D'Avenant  helped  to  reestab- 
lish owed  neither  its  origin  nor  its  initial  progress 
to  GalUc  masters.  Throughout  the  interregnum 
the  EUzabethan  dramatic  tradition  persisted.  With 
the  reopening  of  the  theatres,  the  managers  of  the 
Patent  Houses  turned  to  Shakespeare,  Jonson, 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  and  other  early  English 
dramatists,  and  in  them  Restoration  playwrights 
found  models  to  imitate  and  materials  to  refashion. 
Even  the  novelty  of  English  opera  seems  chiefly 
attributable  to  native  influences.  Subsequent  dis- 
cussion of  the  later  development  of  Restoration 
drama  will  frankly  recognize  its  large  indebtedness 
to  GalHc  models,  yet  even  when  French  authority 
seems  most  dominant  it  never  fully  imposed  its 
yoke  upon  the  English  theatre.  The  rigid  con- 
ventions of  the  classical  Continental  dramas  were, 
again  and  again,  abated  on  the  freer  English  stage. 
In  a  word,  Restoration  drama  is  not  to  be  dismissed 
as  an  essentially  foreign  product.  It  is  the  resultant 
of  English  and  Continental  forces. 

With  this  general  conclusion  always  in  mind,  it  is 
none  the  less  essential  to  indicate  some  of  the  im- 
portant evidences  of  French  influence  upon  early 
Restoration  dramatists.  The  tendency  to  identify 
French  drama  and  dramatic  theory  with  the  so-called 
classical  school  makes  it  advisable  to  recall  the  fact 
that  French  drama  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  by  no  means  confined  itself   to  the  more 


m  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  49 

regular  forms  of  tragedy  and  comedy.  Pastoral 
and  tragi-comedy  were  popular.  The  tragi-comedies 
of  the  prolific  Hardy  and  of  his  successor,  Rotrou, 
clearly  transgress  the  strict  bounds  of  Senecan  tragedy. 
The  influence  of  French  drama  upon  English,  before 
the  closing  of  the  theatres,  was  not  circumscribed 
by  classical  prejudices.  In  England  the  doctrines  of 
classical  drama,  though  at  times  supported,  as  in  the 
theory  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  and  in  the  partial  prac- 
tice of  Ben  Jonson,  had  been  too  rigid  for  the  free 
fancy  of  most  EHzabethans.  As  the  wave  of  creative 
energy  subsided,  however,  playwrights  who  lacked 
the  genius  that  is  a  law  unto  itself  were  more  suscep- 
tible to  dramatic  guidance.  The  advent  of  new  and 
commanding  forces  in  French  drama,  during  the 
EngUsh  dramatic  interregnum,  was  naturally  of  import 
to  the  rising  dramatists  of  a  reawakening  English 
stage. 

To  Pierre  Corneille  (i 606-1 684)  have  been  largely  ^ 
ascribed  the  classical  tendencies  early  apparent  in 
English  drama  of  the  Restoration.  Without  disput- 
ing the  general  conclusions  of  many  critics,  it  may  be 
well  to  point  the  danger  of  regarding  him  as  an  uncom- 
promising classicist.  The  identification  of  Corneille 
with  classical  drama  rests  on  his  later  dramatic  work 
and  theory,  but  tends  to  disregard  both  his  earher 
plays  and  the  romantic  tendencies  often  apparent 
even  in  his  so-called  classical  tragedies.  Corneille 
dramatized  before  he  theorized.  Though  habitually 
classed  as  a  writer  of  tragedy,  his  'peches  de  jeunesse' 
—  as  he  termed  his  early  comedies  —  and  Le  Menteur 
broaden  the  scope  of  his  dramatic  work.    The  roman- 


50  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

tic  atmosphere  of  the  time  colours  the  splendid  rhetoric 
of  Le  Cid  (1636),  and  the  tribute  of  the  Academy  to 
*  la  naivete  et  la  vehemence  de  ses  passions '  suggests 
that  its  triumph  was  not  that  of  classical  restraint 
in  tragedy.  Horace  (1640),  indeed,  is  a  more  strictly 
classical  tragedy,  but  the  melodramatic  note  in 
Rodogune,  the  operatic  element  in  Andromede,  and 
the  very  name  comedie  heroique  which  its  author 
gave  to  Don  Sanche  D^Aragon  are  sufficient  proof 
that  Corneille  is  not  to  be  dismissed  merely  as  a  writer 
of  classical  tragedy.  His  important  pronouncements 
of  classical  dramatic  theory,  furthermore,  belong  to 
his  later  days.  His  own  practice  he  found  dilB&cult 
to  harmonize  with  his  theory.  Yet  all  this  is  not  to 
deny  his  unquestioned  influence  upon  Restoration 
dramatists  in  the  direction  of  classical  drama. 
The  various  Discours  and  Examens  accompanying  the 
printed  texts  of  his  plays  formulated  a  critical  theory 
of  classical  drama  which  offered  direct  suggestion  to 
Restoration  playwrights.  The  doctrine  of  the  dra- 
matic unities  was  to  find  almost  immediately  a  power- 
ful EngHsh  advocate  in  Dryden. 

To  the  influence  of  Corneille  upon  EngHsh  tragedy 
j^'  and  dramatic  theory  must  be  added  that  of  MoHere 
"^^  upon  English  comedy.  Not  until  the  closing  decade 
of  the  English  dramatic  interregnum  did  MoKere 
(1622-1673)  attain  eminence  as  a  writer  of  comedy. 
His  significant  dramatic  work  covers  the  score  of 
years  from  the  production  of  UEtourdi  (1653?)  to 
his  death.  With  Les  Precieuses  Ridicules,  produced 
late  in  1659,  his  success  was  firmly  established. 
In  the  opening  years  of  the  Restoration  period,  his 


m  BEGINNINGS  OF  RESTORATION  DRAMA  51 

fame  was  furthered  by  VEcole  des  Maris  (1661)  and 
VEcole  des  Femmes  (1662) .     The  advent  of  the  master 
of  French  comedy  brought  to  English  playwrights  of 
the  new  era  a  model  to  admire  and  imitate.     Some  of 
them  had  already  come  in  contact  with  his  early 
work  during  the  closing  years  of  the  interregnum. 
With  the  reopening  of  the  theatres  and  the  growth  of 
Moliere's  reputation,  English  writers  turned  increas- 
ing attention  to  French  comedy.     Translations  and 
adaptations  of  Moliere  multipKed,  and  suggestions 
were  freely  pilfered  for  plot,  incident,  and  character.^ 
lYet  Restoration  borrowers  reproduced  the  outward  - 
;  semblance,  not  the  real  spirit,  of  the  French  master. 
I  In   their   hands    Gallic   gaiety   was   coarsened   into 
t  gross  brutahty,  satire  became  cynically  harsh,  and 
I  human    comedy    lost    its    humanity.     In    comedy,, 
I  as  in  tragedy,  the  spirit  of  French  drama  evaded  the 
I  grasp  of  English  copyists.     It  would  be  as  unfair  to 
!  Moliere  as  it  would  be  untrue  to  the  facts  of  English 
I  dramatic  history  to  regard  Restoration  comedy  as  an 
I  essentially  Gallicized  product. 

In  the  developments  of  Restoration  drama  about 
to  be  traced,  Continental  influences  will  be  found 
constant  and  powerful.  Yet  the  English  influences 
that  dominated  the  interregnum  and  the  opening 
years  of  the  new  era  remain,  throughout  the  Restora- 
tion period,  the  underlying  factor.  Gallic  theory  and 
English  practice  clashed  ceaselessly  for  years,  but  in 
the  end  the  predominant  forces  were  English.  Even 
Dryden,    the    most    notable    advocate    of    classical 

1  The  extent  of  English  borrowings  from  French  drama  is  indicated 
jn  Ward's  suggestive  footnote,  III,  315-316. 


52  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  in 

theories,  bore  repeated  testimony  to  the  triumphs  of 
Elizabethan  genius,  turned  eventually  against  his 
*  long-loved  mistress  Rhyme,'  and  led  the  return  to 
English  blank  verse  and  an  at  least  partial  return  to 
Elizabethan  themes  and  methods.  It  is  well  to 
enter  the  study  of  the  drama  of  Dryden  and  his  period 
with  the  recollection  that  the  roots  of  Restoration 
drama  lie  in  Elizabethan  soil. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DRYDEN,  AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA 

The  central  figure  in  the  history  of  Restoration  < 
drama  is  John  Dryden  (1631-1700).  Yet  Dryden 
was  more  at  home  in  verse  satire  or  prose  criticism 
than  in  comedy  or  tragedy.  Much  of  his  dramatic 
work  seems  written  against  the  grain,  in  response  not 
to  his  own  impulse,  but  to  the  popular  demand.  He 
early  voiced  and  long  followed  the  doctrine  of  the 
practical  playwright : 

He^s  bound  to  please,  not  to  write  well ;  and  knows, 
There  is  a  mode  in  plays  as  well  as  clothes.^ 

In  comedy  he  had  neither  the  wit  nor  the  ease  of 
Congreve.  Even  in  heroic  tragedy,  of  which  he  is  the 
chief  exemplar,  his  fancy  seems  to  have  been  caught 
rather  by  rhyme  than  by  dramatic  action.  Never- 
theless, practice  gave  him  facility  in  pla3rwriting, 
and  the  touch  of  poetry  raised  his  best  dramas  far 
above  the  level  of  ephemeral  stage  successes.  From 
flabby  perversions  of  Shakespeare  he  rose,  in  AU  for 
Love,  to  real  power  in  handling  the  theme  of  Antony 
anB  Cleopatra.  Though  not  at  heart  a  dramatist, 
he  led  both  in  critical  discussion  of  dramatic  theory 
and  in  practice  of  dramatic  composition.  JKith 
him,  essentiallY-rose  and  fell  English  rhymed  heroic 
drama.  '  ■'"■^ 

-^''**^"*  *  Prologue  to  The  Rival-Ladies  (1664), 

53 


54  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

His  advent  as  a  playwright  promised  little.  His 
first  comedy,  The  Wild  Gallant  (1663),  was  to 
Pepys  'so  poor  a  thing  as  I  never  saw  in  my  life 
almost,'  ^  and  to  the  author  himself  a  'motley  garni- 
ture of  fool  and  farce.' ^  The  Rival-Ladies  (1664), 
based  on  a  Spanish  plot,  is  a  tragi-comedy  with 
elements  of  heroic  drama.  Especially  noteworthy 
is  the  introduction  of  some  scenes  in  rhyme.  Dryden, 
whose  carelessness  is  shown  by  his  citation  of  Queen 
[sic]  Gorboduc,  a  blank-verse  tragedy,  as  a  precedent 
for  Enghsh  rhymed  drama,  and  by  his  assignment  of 
the  invention  of  blank  verse  to  Shakespeare,  in  dedi- 
cating his  play  to  the  Earl  of  Orrery  credits  him  with 
an  earHer  adoption  of  the  'new  way  ...  of  writing 
scenes  in  verse.'  Roger  Boyle,  Earl  of  Orrery 
(1621-1679),  of  whose  work  The  History  of  Henry 
the  Fifth  (1664)  and  Mustapha,  the  Son  of  Solyman  the 
Magnificent  (1665),  may  serve  as  sufficient  examples, 
has  been  frequently  credited  with  the  introduction  of 
rhymed  heroic  drama,  but  it  is  well  not  to  lay  too 
much  stress  on  Dryden's  generous  words.  It  is  true 
that  'the  new  way  of  writing  scenes  in  verse'  differs 
widely  from  the  Elizabethan  use  of  the  rhymed  couplet 
to  mark  the  close  of  scenes  or  to  emphasize  certain 
passages,  and  from  Shakespeare's  frequent  employment 
of  rhyme  for  lyrical  effect  in  his  earlier  plays.  Yet 
even  the  more  rigid  'heroic  couplet'  of  Restoration 
drama  is  perhaps  anticipated  in  such  a  play  as  The 
Virgin  Widow  (printed  1649),  by  Francis  Quarles. 
Although    this    appeared    during    the    interregnum, 

1  Diary,  23  Feb.,  1663.    Wheatley  edition,  III,  51. 

*  Second  Epilogue,  written  for  the  revival  of  the  play  in  1669. 


IV  DRYDEN,   AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  55 

the  first  quarto  speaks  of  it  as  'having  been  sometimes 
at  Chelsie  privately  Acted,'  and  the  fact  that  one  of 
its  most  conspicuous  rhymed  passages  receives 
extended  parody  in  The  Rehearsal  (1671)  ^  seems  to 
strengthen  beUef  that  the  play  should  not  be  dis- 
missed as  a  *  closet-drama.'  Dry  den  himself  ascribes 
to  D'Avenant  the  introduction  of  rh3niied  couplets  on 
the  stage.  It  may,  furthermore,  be  questioned 
whether  Orrery's  plays  preceded  Dryden's  in  actual 
employment  of  the  rhymed  couplet  on  the  Restoration 
stage.^  Orrery  certainly  exhibits  an  early  tendency 
toward  the  use  of  the  'heroic  couplet'  in  serious  drama, , 
but  Dryden's  adoption  and  development  of  rhyme 
was  the  dominant  factor  in  its  notable,  though 
brief,  triumph. 

Although  rhyme  makes  an  early  appearance  in^^ 
less  serious  plays  like  The  Rival-Ladies  and  Etherege's 
Comical  Revenge  (1664),  its  real  supremacy  was  to 
come  in  tragedy.     With  The  Indian  Queen  (1664),  ' 
in  which   Sir    Robert    HowaSd^  ^(1626-1698)    had 
somfe'assistance  from  Dryden,  and  especially  with 
Dryden's  sequel,  The  Indian  Emperor,  or  The  Con-  \\ 
quest  of  Mexico   hy  the  Spaniards   (1665),   rhj^ed  ' 
heroic  tragedy . xoiries  into  full  being.     The  Indian^ 
Emperor  gave  an  adequate  test  of  the  heroic  couplet 
in  serious  drama  and  estabUshed  Dryden's  position 
as  a  dramatist.    In  the  conflicts  of  love  and  honour 


1  Quarles,  The  Virgin  Widow,  III,  i,  is  burlesqued  in  The  Rehearsal, 
III,  2.      See  Arber's  reprint  of  The  Rehearsal,  pp.  86-88. 

2  Pepys,  who  saw  Orrery's  Henry  the  Fifth,  13  Aug.,  1664,  speaks 
of  it  as  'the  new  play.'  He  mentions  The  Indian  Queen,  27  Jan., 
1664,  and  he  saw  The  Rival-Ladies,  4  Aug.,  1664. 


56  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

between  characters  of  high  rank,  including  personages 
Kke  Montezuma  and  Cortez,  who  move,  before  a 
foreign  and  semi-historical  background,  through 
scenes  of  stirring  incident  toward  the  triumphant 
union  of  martTaThero"*§:fiLd  angehc  heroine  and  the 
death  of  those  unable  to  survive  the  tragic  stress, 
Dry3en  assembled  many  elements  of  earlier  EngUsh 
plays,  and  wedded  heroic  action  to  the  heroic  coup- 
let by  the  new  formula  of  *  heroic  drama.' 
^  The  new  species  of  drama  was  now  fairly  established, 
but  Dry  den  did  not  wholly  abandon  comedy.  Yet 
despite  the  light  under-plot  of  Celadon's  love  for 
Florimel  which  Nell  Gwynn  helped  to  popularize. 
Secret  Love,  or  The  Maiden  Queen  (1667)  shows  in  its 
main  plot  influences  of  heroic  drama  in  both  form  and 
substance.  The  love  conflict  involved  in  the  Queen 
of  Sicily's  affection  for  her  sister's  lover,  and  solved 
by  the  Queen's  renunciation,  is  essentially  heroic  in 
theme  and  employs  the  heroic  couplet  as  well  as 
blank  verse.  Probably  in  the  same  year,  1667, 
Dryden  produced  versions  both  of  Continental  and 
of  Elizabethan  plays.  Sir  Martin  Mar-All^  or  The 
Feigned  Innocence  is  a  prose  adaptation  of  Moliere's 
UEtourdi,  with  some  borrowings  from  Quinault 
which  accentuate  Dryden's  indebtedness  to  French 
sources.  In  The  Tempest,  or  The  Enchanted  Island,^ 
the  tempest  of  Restoration  perversion  of  Shakespeare 
breaks  with  violence,  and  the  enchantment  fades 
into  the  Hght  of  common  day.  An  Evening's  Love,  or  It 
The  Mock  Astrologer  (1668)  coarsens  materials  drawn  l' 

*  Probably  most  of  die  work  belongs  to  D'Avenant,  whom  Dryden 
aided.    This  play  must  be  distinguished  from  Shadwell's  opera,  1673. 


IV  DRYDEN,  AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  57 

from  the  younger  Comeille  and  from  Moliere's 
Le  Depit  Amour eux.  Its  most  engaging  characters, 
Wildblood  and  Jacintha,  resemble,  if  they  do  not 
match.  Celadon  and  Florimel.  Perhaps  Dryden's 
most  agreeable  contributions  to  comedy  are,  in  fact, 
these  pairs  of  light-hearted  lovers,  who,  without  the 
deeper  traits  of  Benedick  and  Beatrice,  have  yet 
real  vivacity  and  superficial  attraction.  The  range 
and  variety  of  these  different  plays  show  not  merely 
Dryden's  versatility  as  a  dramatist  but  the  contending 
forces  that  bear  on  Restoration  drama. 

The  conflict  between  Continental  example  and 
English  practice  may  be  seen  especially  in  the  English 
treatment  of  heroic  drama.  Emphasis  has  already 
been  laid  upon  the  continuous  development  from  early 
English  sources  of  many  important  elements  in  heroic 
drama.  Into  this  current  now  poured  French  streams. 
The  heroic  romances  of  such  authors  as  La  Calprenede 
and  Madeleine  de  Scudery  influenced  English  drama 
not  merely  indirectly,  through  the  French  drama 
which  they  stimulated,  but  in  many  cases  directly.^ 
Yet  English  heroic  plays  usually  reproduced  but 
imperfectly  the  French  romances  or  plays  which  were 
their  models.  Whatever  their  professed  allegiance 
to  Corneille's  theories  as  to  the  dramatic  unities,  the 
Restoration  dramatists  by  no  means  caught  either  the 
spirit  or  the  form  of  Corneille's  tragedies.  Observa- 
tion of  French  models  resulted,  in  the  English  heroic 
play,  in  simplification  of  character,  scene,  and  action 
rather  than  in  absolute  observance  of  the  unities  of 

^  Waxd,  III,  309,  footnote  2,  gives  a  suggestive  list  of  instances  in 
point. 


58  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

time,  place,  and  action.^  The  grand  manner  of 
French  heroic  romance  was  distorted  rather  than 
copied ;  its  themes  handled  grossly.  Honour  was  put 
to  the  proof  of  sensational  and  impossible  adventure, 
and  love  exploded  in  a  torrent  of  rhetoric.  Hero  and 
heroine  must  tear  a  passion  to  tatters  and  out-Herod 
Herod.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  The  Indian  Emperor  to 
Le  Cid.  Classical  French  doctrine  sought  to  separate 
tragedy  from  comedy,  but  its  effect  on  EngHsh  drama 
was  somewhat  inconclusive.  There  resulted,  indeed, 
stricter  discrimination  between  comedy  and  tragedy 
in  Restoration  than  in  Elizabethan  drama.  Yet 
the  tragi-comedies  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  main- 
tained their  stage  popularity,  and  no  doubt  influenced 
the  happy  endings  of  numerous  heroic  plays.  The 
French  distaste  for  bloodshed  and  violence  on  the 
stage  could  not  be  transmitted  undiminished  to  an 
English  stage  that  had  tasted  the  tragedy  of  blood. 
f  In  writing  The  Indian  Emperor  as  a  sequel  to  The 
i  Indian  Queen,  Dry  den  was  forced  to  confess  a  cer- 
tain paucity  of  materials,  *  there  remaining  but  two 
of  the  considerable  characters  alive.'  ^  The  heroic 
{  drama  almost  required  the  eventual  triumph  of  the 
I  superhuman  hero,  but  victims  were  needed  to  exhibit 
^  his  prowess.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
English  heroic  drama  remains  frequently  closer  to 
the  type  of  Elizabethan  tragi-comedy  than  to  classical 
tragedy.  At  almost  every  turn,  there  is  discernible  a 
conflict  between  foreign  classical  restraint  and  native 

1  The  use  of  increasingly  elaborate  scenery  was  also  a  factor  in  the 
simplification  in  number  of  scenes. 

*  Scott-Saintsbury  edition  of  Dryden,  II,  321. 


IV  DRYDEN,   AND   THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  59 

romantic  freedom.     In  this  conflict,  Gallic  theory  is 
not  translated  literally  into  English  practice. 

In  one  particular,  this  clash  of  forces  seems  to  have 
resulted,  at  least  temporarily,  in  a  decisive  French  l 
victory,  in  the  introduction  of  rhyme  in  serious 
English  drama.  That  French  example  is  wholly 
responsible  for  this  innovation  in  the  EngKsh  heroic 
play  seems,  however,  hardly  tenable.  The  precision 
and  regularity  of  the  rhymed  couplet  might,  con- 
ceivably, have  recoimnended  itto^estoration  taste, 
even  without  the  authority  of  the  Alexandrines  of 
French  drama.  The  couplet  which  commended  itself 
to  Jonson  and  which  had  already  been  approved  in 
non-dramatic  verse  had  received  some  trial  in  an  inter- 
regnum play  by  Quarles.  French  seed  fell  upon  good 
soil,  and  the  estimate  of  its  yield  should  not  ignore 
the  favourable  season  in  which  it  ripened.  There 
need  be  little  hesitation,  however,  in  admitting  the 
definite  and  potent  French  influence  toward  rhymed 
drama.  Under  the  Merry  Monarch,  when  ^all,  by 
the  king's  example,  lived  and  loved,'  ^  there  was  royal 
precedent  for  acceptance  of  Continental  dramatic 
tendencies.  In  speaking  of  his  rhymed  tragedy, 
The  Black  Prince ,  as  'wrote  in  a  new  way,'  Orrery  says 
that  he  wrote  'in  the  French  Manner,  because  I 
heard  the  King  declare  himself  more  in  favour  of 
their  Way  of  Writing  than  ours.'  ^ 

The  general  adoption  of  rhyme  in  serious  English  '-w 
drama  was  not  effected  without  a  struggle.     The 

1  *  All,  by  the  King's  Example,  live  and  love,'  The  Progress. of  Beauty, 
George  Granville,  Lord  Lansdowne,  Genuine  Works y  1732, 1,  78. 
«  Quoted  by  Ward,  IH,  340. 


6o  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

various  stages  of  the  notable  controversy  on  the  sub- 
ject between  Dryden  and  Howard  are  tersely  sum- 
marized in  the  last  paragraph  of  Dryden's  Defence  of 
an  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy  (1668) :  *In  my  epistle 
dedicatory,  before  my  Rival  Ladies,  I  had  said 
somewhat  in  behalf  of  verse,  which  he  was  pleased 
to  answer  in  his  preface  to  his  plays  [Foure  New  Plays, 
1665] :    that  occasioned  my  reply  in  my  Essay  [An 

•^-  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  1668] ;  and  that  reply  begot 
this  rejoinder  of  his,  in  his  preface  to  the  Duke  of 
Lerma  [1668]/  The  essence  of  Howard^s  argument 
is  that  rhyme  is  unnatural  in  drama.  Dryden's 
position  is  that,  in  serious  plays,  rhyme  is  'as  natural 
and  more  effectual  than  blank  verse,' ^  for  it  'cir- 
cumscribes the  fancy'  ^  and  adds  sweetness,  that  the 
faults  of  rhymed  tragedy  are  due  to  'ill  rhyming,'  and 
that  Jonson,  Fletcher,  and  Shakespeare  have  so 
thoroughly  exhausted  dramatic  writing  that  'this 
way  of  writing  in  verse  they  have  only  left  free  to  us.'  ^ 
To  such  arguments  Dryden's  own  abandonment  of 
rhyme  within  the  next  decade  gives  sufficient  answer, 
but  for  the  moment,  putting  theory  into  practice, 
he  set  the  fashion  of  rhyme. 

v<  In    Tyrannic  Love,    or   The   Royal  Martyr    (1669) 

and  Almanzor  and  Almahide,  or  The  Conquest  of 
Granada  by  the  Spaniards  (1669-16  70),  the  heroic 
drama  has  characteristic  illustration.     In  Tyrannic 

1  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  Ker,  I,  94.  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
discussion  of  rhyme  forms  but  part  of  this  Essay,  which  deals  at  length 
with  the  unities  and  with  the  relative  merits  of  ancient  and  modern 
dramatists. 

2  Dedication  to  The  Rival-Ladies. 
»Ker,  I,  99. 


IV  DRYDEN,   AND    THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  6l 

Love,  Maximin,  Tyrant  of  Rome,  chooses  Porphyrius 
as  his  heir  and  as  husband  for  his  daughter,  Valeria. 
Porphyrius,  in  love  with  the  Empress  herself,  refuses 
the  match  and  is  sentenced  to  death.  Catherine, 
Princess  of  Alexandria,  a  Christian  captive,  who  con- 
verts the  heathen  philosopher  ApoUonius  and  others 
with  remarkable  celerity,  captures  Maximin's  heart.  A 
conjurer  is  consulted  to  win  Catherine  for  the  Tyrant, 
but  her  guardian  angel  wards  off  the  evil  spirits. 
Maximin  then  orders  Catherine  and  her  mother  to 
be  killed  on  account  of  their  religion,  and  the  Empress  ; 
and  her  lover  are  sentenced  to  death.  Valeria  stabs 
herself  in  despair,  her  lover  Placidius  stabs  Maximin, 
and  he  in  turn  stabs  Placidius  —  a  'solution  by  mas-  i  \ 
sacre'  which  eventually  leaves  Porphyrius  and  the  | 
Empress  free  to  moimt  the  bloody  throne.  Though  it  is  { 
easy  to  exaggerate  the  defects  of  the  heroic  drama, 
some  of  Maximin's  speeches  are  almost  proverbial 
for  rant,  and  the  solution  certainly  takes  the  step  from 
the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.  After  Placidius  and 
Maximin  have  exchanged  stabs,  'Placidius  falls,  and 
the  Emperor  staggers  after  him,  and  sits  down  upon 
him.'  Disdaining  the  help  of  guards,  Maximin 
strives  to  rise  but  has  to  resume  his  uneasy  seat  of 
vantage  upon  Placidius,  who  heroically  rounds  out  a 
dej&ant  couplet.    Both  are  finally  rhymed  to  death. 

PLAcmius.    Oh  I  am  gone.    [Dies.]    Maximin.    And  after 

thee  I  go, 
Revenging  still,  and  following  ev'n  to  the  other  world  my  blow ; 

[Stabs  him  again.]  ^ 

And  shoving  back  this  earth  on  which  I  sit,  | 

J'U  mount,  and  scatter  all  the  gods  I  hit.      [Dies.] 


62  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Valerius,  Valeria,  Maximin,  and  Placidius  meet 
death  on  the  stage,  contrary  to  the  classical  tendency. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Empress  and  her  lover  have  a 
happy  issue  out  of  their  afflctions.  The  classical 
influence  is  evident  in  the  attitude  toward  the  three 
imities.  The  unity  of  place  is  well  preserved,  except 
in  the  shift  of  scene  in  the  fourth  act,  and  the  action 
is  simpUfied  to  a  few  leading  characters.  But  in 
order  to  conform  to  the  unity  of  time,  the  action 
has  to  proceed  sometimes  with  remarkable  celerity. 
The  Tyrant's  son  does  battle,  is  killed,  and  is  greeted 
with  his  dead  march,  within  some  sixty  lines.  In  the 
second  act,  ApoUonius,  the  heathen  philosopher, 
despite  his  own  excellent  argument,  is  converted 
with  theatrical  speed.  ^Xisie_tocdsJiardJ--with.Jieroic 
drama. 

jThe  Conquest  of  Granada  is  perhaps  the  typical 
heroic  drama.  It  is  based  largely  on  Madeleine  de 
Scudery's  Almahide,  and  partly  on  her  Le  Grand 
Cyrus  and  Ibrahim.  Like  Marlowe's  Tamburlainey 
it  is  in  two  parts,  and  centers  in  the  character  of 
the  hero.  The  plot  is  a  maze  through  which  Almanzor 
advances  with  assured  tread. ^  In  the  Dedication, 
Dryden  says,  'I  have  formed  a  hero,  I  confess,  not 
absolutely  perfect,  but  of  an  excessive  and  over-boiling 
courage ;  but  Homer  and  Tasso  are  my  precedents.' 
For  rant,  Almanzor  'out-Herods  Herod,'  and  for 
prowess  one  shudders  to  contemplate  his  meeting  with 
Achilles  or  Rinaldo,  his  confessed  originals.^  Once 
only,  when  he  is  overcome  in  the  last  act  of  Part  I, 

*  An  excellent  summary  of  it  is  in  Saintsbury's  Dryden,  pp.  46-50. 
8  Essay  of  Heroic  Plays,  Ker,  I,  155. 


rv  DRYDEN,   AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  63 

the  hero  seems  human.  Doctor  Jofenson  says  ^  that 
the  two  parts  of  the  play  *are  written  with  a  seeming 
determination  to  glut  the  pubHck  with  dramatick 
wonders ;  to  exhibit  in  its  highest  elevation  a  theatrical 
meteor  of  incredible  love  and  impossible  valour, 
and  to  leave  no  room  for  a  wilder  flight  to  the  extrava- 
gance of  posterity/  Nevertheless,  despite^bombast 
and  grotesqueness,  a  certain  masterful  vigour  sweeps 
the  action  onward.  Spirited  coup[ets"Tiel^^to  sus- 
tajn'^lte'Mialogue,  and  the  vitality  of  the  central 
character  is  abundant  enough  to  impel  him  trium- 
phantly through  double  the  ordinary  number  of  acts 
of  heroic  drama.  Yet  when  the  curtain  falls  on  the ' 
last  of  many  scenes  of  battle,  murder,  and  sudden 
death,  one  recalls  with  amazement  Dryden's  definition 
of  a  play  as  ^a  just  and  lively  image  of  human  nature.'  ^ 
The  zeal  of  the  heroic  play  seems  for  a  time  to  have 
eaten  Dryden  up.  In  the  Epilogue  to  The  Conquest 
of  Granada  he  speaks  with  the  extravagance  of  his 
own  Almanzor.  Dryden  had  once  been  content  to 
claim  ^a  mingled  chime  Of  Jonson's  humour,  with 
Corneille's  rhyme,'  ^  but  now  he  extols  his  own 
age  far  above  that  when 

Jonson  did  mechanic  humour  show, 
When  men  were  dull  and  conversation  low. 

The  Elizabethans,  who  'rose,  but  at  their  height  could 
seldom  stay,'  could  not  meet  the  test  of  Restoration 
refinement,  for 

^  Life  of  Dryden.     In  Lives  of  the  English  Poets ,  Hill  edition, 
190S,  I,  348-349. 

2  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  Ker,  I,  36. 
'  Prologue  to  Secret  Love  (printed  1668). 


64  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

Wit's  now  arrived  to  a  more  high  degree ; 
Our  native  language  more  refined  and  free. 

But  while  Dryden  was  viewing  with  complacency  his 
good  fortune  in  writing  '  to  please  an  age  more  gallant 
than  the  last/  and  asserting  with  easy  assurance  the 
merits  of  rhymed  heroic  drama,  profane  hands  had 
been  quietly  laying  a  mine  of  satire  which  was  pres- 
ently to  explode  under  his  feet.  The  Rehearsal,  said 
^  to  have  been  begun  in  1663,  was  produced  7  December, 
1671.  Its  chief  author,  George  Villiers  (1628- 
1687),  the  graceless  Duke  of  Buckingham,  had  been 
assisted  by  Martin  Clifford,  Thomas  Sprat,  and,  it  is 
sometimes  said,  by  '  Hudibras '  Butler.  In  the  years  of 
its  conception  it  had  accumulated  a  varied  body  of 
ridicule  upon  contemporary  drama  and  dramatists. 
The  main  attack,  doubtless  first  directed  against 
D'Avenant,^  was  diverted  after  his  death,  in  1668, 
to  Sir  Robert  Howard,  and  finally  to  Dryden,  the  new 
poet  laureate.  Though  by  no  means  the  sole  target, 
-  Dryden  received  most  of  the  shafts  of  burlesque. 
Drawcansir,  hero  of  the  mock-heroic  tragedy  which 
is  rehearsed,  is  Almanzor,  and  Bayes,  the  author,  is 

\  Dryden  himself.     Many  of  Dryden's  lines  are  closely 

;  parodied : 

Almanzor  :  Spite  of  myself  I'll  stay,  fight,  love,  despair ; 
And  I  can  do  all  this,  because  I  dare. 
Drawcansir  :  I  drink,  I  huff,  I  strut,  look  big  and  stare ; 
And  all  this  I  can  do,  because  I  dare. 

^  Bayes,  whose  broken  nose  adorned  with  a  *wet  piece  of  brown 
papyr'  (II,  5)  is  a  hit  at  D'Avenant's  personal  disfigurement,  retains 
evidences  of  the  original  intention. 


IV  DRYDEN,  AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  65 

And  again : 

Almanzor  :  He,  who  dares  love,  and  for  that  love  must  die, 
And,  knowing  this,  dares  yet  love  on,  am  I. 
Drawcansir  :  He  that  dares  drink,  and  for  that  drink  dares 
die, 
And,  knowing  this,  dares  yet  drink  on,  am  I.^ 

Almahide,  Dryden's  heroine,  has  her  ^So,  two  kind 
turtles,  when  a  storm  is  nigh'  tr^jisprosed  into  'So 
Boar  and  Sow,  when  any  storm  is  nigh? 

Dryden,  though  the  most  conspicuous,  is  by  no 
means  the  only  dramatist  held  up  to  ridicule.  Fan- 
shawe,  Quarles,  and  Stapylton  are  among  the  lesser 
dramatists  who  are  not  overlooked  in  specific  passages 
of  parody.  Indeed,  the  burlesque  overflows  with  so 
many  'local  hits'  and  so  many  close  parodies  of 
forgotten  plays  that  much  of  the  fun  is  now  lost. 
Burlesque,  in  its  very  nature,  is  ephemeral,  and  can 
hardly  survive  the  subject  it  ridicules.  The  vitality 
of  parts  of  The  Rehearsal  is  due  to  the  general  satire 
of  stage  absurdities  common  to  all  time.  Uncalled 
for  exits  and  entrances,  omissions  in  the  plot  of 
vital  points,  rant  and  fustian,  are  subjects  for  lasting 
satire.  Parts  of  The  Rehearsal  move  even  the  modem 
reader's  mirth  —  Volscius  in  love,  with  one  boot 
on  and  the  other  off,  torn  between  Honour  urging  him 
to  'pluck  both  boots  on'  and  Love  urging  him  to  'put 
on  none' — Pallas,  with  French  wine  in  her  lance, 
a  pie  in  her  helmet,  and  a  buckler  of  cheese  —  Draw- 
cansir who  'kills  'em  all  on  both  sides,'  and  boasts : 

Others  may  boast  a  single  man  to  kill ; 
But  I,  the  bloud  of  thousands,  daily  spill. 

*  See  Arbor's  reprint  of  The  Rehearsal,  pp.  102-103. 
p 


66  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Sheridan's  Critic  has  displaced  on  the  stage  the 
earlier  burlesque  which  served  as  its  rough  model, 
but  The  Rehearsal  yet  retains  much  of  its  zest  for  the 
reader  familiar  with  the  extravagant  absurdities  of 
heroic  drama. 

The  actual  effect  of  The  Rehearsal  in  its  own  day- 
has  often  been  greatly  misrepresented.  Short-lived 
the  heroic  drama  doubtless  was,  but  its  death-knell 
had  not  yet  been  sounded.  Probably  the  authors  of 
The  Rehearsal  cared  little  whether  heroic  plays  were 
laughed  off  the  stage,  so  long  as  their  piece  was  laughed 
at  on  the  stage.  They  had  no  insistent  artistic 
quarrel  with  the  reigning  favourite,  and  none  of  Jeremy 
Collier's  saeva  indignatio  in  exposing  the  shortcomings 
of  the  drama.  Amid  the  laughter  evoked  by  The 
Rehearsal,  Dryden  pubHshed  An  Essay  of  Heroic 
Plays  (1672),  in  the  opening  sentence  dogmatically 
reasserting  his  attitude  toward  rhymed  plays: 
'Whether  Heroic  Verse  ought  to  be  admitted  into 
serious  plays,  is  not  now  to  be  disputed :  'tis  already 
in  possession  of  the  stage;  and  I  dare  confidently 
affirm  that  very  few  tragedies,  in  this  age,  shall 
be  received  without  it.'  With  zeal  worthy  of  a  better 
cause,  he  still  stood  to  his  guns,  maintaining  that 
'an  heroic  play  ought  to  be  an  imitation,  in  little, 
of  an  heroic  poem ;  and,  consequently,  that  Love  and 
Valour  ought  to  be  the  subject  of  it ' ;  that '  an  heroic 
poet  is  not  tied  to  a  bare  representation  of  what  is 
true,  or  exceeding  probable ' ;  that  the  introduction 
of  magic  machinery  is  justifiable;  and  that  the  'fre- 
quent use  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  my  represen- 
tations of  battles'  had  Shakespearean  precedent,  and 
were  essential  to  heroic  drama. 


IV  DRYDEN,   AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  67 

Dryden's  somewhat  desultory  dramatic  efforts 
during  the  next  few  years  do  not  justify  in  practice 
his  positiveness  in  theory.  The  Prologue  to  Amboynaj 
or  The  Cruelties  of  the  Dutch  to  the  English  Merchants 
(1673)  justly  warns  the  audience  to  'hope  not  either 
language,  plot,  or  art/  and  the  sorry  tragedy,  deprived 
even  of  the  false  gallop  of  verse,  shuffles  through 
bad  prose  and  worse  blank  verse  to  its  wretched  end. 
There  followed  an  operatic  version  of  Paradise  Lost, 
entitled  The  State  of  Innocence  and  Fall  of  Man  (printed 
1 6 74) ,  which  was  not  intended  for  the  stage.  Criticism 
has  fastened  more  readily  upon  the  ludicrous  than 
upon  the  sometimes  fine  passages.  Yet  Eve*s  pride 
that  goeth  before  the  fall  shows  a  mastery  of  the 
personal  pronouns  hardly  consonant  with  the  State 
of  Innocence : 

Sure,  I  am  somewhat  which  they  wish  to  be, 
And  cannot ;  I  myself  am  proud  of  me.    (II,  2) 

Meantime,  Dryden  had  not  abandoned  comedy, 
though  The  Assignation,  or  Love  in  a  Nunnery  (1672) 
tends  to  confirm  his  own  admitted  weakness  in  su(^i— , 
work.  Marriage-d-la-Mode  (1672?),  a  comedy  with  a 
serious  under-plot,  is,  however,  of  a  different  stamp, 
and  has  been  pronounced  by  Saintsbury^  'Dryden's 
only  original  excursion  into  the  realms  of  the  higher 
comedy.'  Mdanlha,  a  fashionable  lady,  'runs  mad 
in  new  French  words, '  and  perhaps  foreshadows  in 
spirit  Congreve's  ]\JiUamant,  to  whom  she  has  some- 
times been  compared. 
In   1675,  appeared  the  last  of  Dryden's  rhymed 

1  Dryden,  p.  54. 


68  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

heroic  plays,  Aureng-Zebe.  Already  his  spirit  is  restive 
under  the  fetters  of  rhyme.  In  the  Dedication  he 
desires  that,  if  he  ^must  be  condemned  to  rhyme/ 
he  may  find  'some  ease  in  his  change  of  punishment,' 
and  in  the  Prologue  he  confesses  that  he  'grows 
weary  of  his  long-loved  mistress.  Rhyme.'  In- 
stinct is  struggHng  against  respect  for  classical  forms 
and  conventions.  Though  he  still  impUes  that  his 
own  age  excels  Shakespeare's  in  literary  art  and 
finish,  his  lines  are  now  in  marked  contrast  to  his 
earlier  vaunts : 

But  spite  of  all  his  pride,  a  secret  shame 
Invades  his  breast  at  Shakespeare's  sacred  name : 
Awed  when  he  hears  his  god-like  Romans  rage, 
He,  in  a  just  despair,  would  quit  the  stage ; 
And  to  an  age  less  polished,  more  unskilled, 
Does,  with  disdain,  the  foremost  honours  yield. 

Yet  Aureng-Zebe  has  less  rant  and  fustian  than  The 
Conquest  of  Granada,  and  sometimes  strikes  the  note 
of  true  poetry.^  Heroic  drama  is  tempered  with 
some  suggestion  of  Gallic  restraint.  The  heroic 
couplet  in  drama  needed,  however,  more  than  half- 
hearted support.  When  Dryden  lost  confidence  in 
his  theory,  it  was  in  vain  that  he  continued  a  con- 
stantly more  repugnant  practice.  When  in  All  for 
Love  (1678)  he  turned  to  blank  verse  and  a  Shake- 
spearean theme,  rhymed  heroic  drama  had  had  its  day 
and  practically  ceased  to  be. 

The  modern  critical  attitude  toward  the  English 
rhymed  heroic  play  has  sometimes  been  only  less 

^Quotation  has  not  staled  the   fine  passage  beginning  *When  I 
consider  life,  'tis  all  a  cheat/  IV,  i. 


IV  DRYDEN,  AND  THE  HEROIC  DRAMA  69 

unsympathetic  than  that  of  The  Rehearsal.  So 
patent  are  the  gross  excesses  of  heroic  drama  that 
some  have  thought  its  substance  mere  rant  and 
fustian,  and  its  form  rhyme  without  reason.  No- 
where, indeed,  are  absurdities  easier  to  find;  never, 
perhaps,  has  it  been  easier  to  laugh  a  case  out  of 
court.  Yet  the  ends  of  dramatic  justice  would  not 
be  defeated  by  recommendations  to  mercy.  The 
failure  of  heroic  drama  lay  in  its  attempt  to  achieve 
the  impossible.  Its  reach  exceeded  its  grasp,  but  the 
effort  was  not  ignoble.  Dramatists  aimed  at  the 
grand,  and  hit  the  grandiloquent.  With  them  the 
'grand  manner'  became  what  Scott,  in  another  con- 
text, called  the  'big  bow-wow'  style.  If  there  is  but 
a  step  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  it  is  filled 
by  the  grotesque.  Yet  if  heroic  drama  is  grotesque, 
it  is  unfair  to  regard  only  its  comic  facet.  Beneath 
the  grin  of  a  mediaeval  gargoyle  may  lurk  a  tragic 
shadow,  and  the  Devil  of  the  Mystery  plays  may 
touch  more  than  the  laughter  of  the  groundlings. 
Love  and  honour  —  the  unvarying  themes  of  heroic 
drama  —  are  not  (poniic.    It  ir  hnTy  \lne.  a,pglp,-Q£ 

viginn  that  r^^^P^  fhpm  y;nmptimp<;  apppar  sn.   Possibly 

it  is  not  idle  fancy  to  read  between  the  lines  of  heroic 
drama  the  tragedy  of  lost  romance.  The  Foimtain 
of  Youth  that  flowed  free  for  the  Elizabethans  had 
run  dry,  but  its  tradition  had  not  been  wholly  for- 
gotten. If  exiles  from  the  court  could  no  longer 
fleet  the  time  carelessly  in  the  Forest  of  Arden,  as 
they  did  in  the  golden  world,  perhaps  they  sometimes 
turned  eagerly  from  the  jaded  London  world  to  dis- 
tant lands  where  fiction  outran  fact,  and  fancy  still 


70  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  iv 

was  free.    The  heroic  dramatist  failed  to  prove  that 
it  was  an  easy  task  to  pluck  bright  honour  from  the  | 
pale-faced  moon,  but  despite  that  failure,  he  echoes  / 
faintly  an  earher  faith  in  chivalry  and  love.     Doubt-  f 
less  it  was  a  sorry  age  that  confused  grandeur  with  ( 
sheer  bulk,  and  mistook  that  which  glitters  for  gold. 
Doubtless  heroic  tragedy  merits,  in  no  small  degree, 
the  measure  that  has  been  meted  out  to  it.     But 
though  its  heroes  can  no  longer  hope  to  touch  the 
Happy  Isles,  and  see  the  great  Achilles,  there  yet 
remains  beneath  the  tinsel  of  heroic  drama  some  work 
of  noble  note  not  unbecoming  men  that  strove  with 
Gods. 


CHAPTER  V 

ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY   (sHADWELL) 

While  heroic  drama  fought  its  rivahries  of  love 
and  its  valorous  sieges  and  conquests  in  far-away 
lands  of  incredible  adventure,  Restoration  comedy  was 
busy  with  familiar  themes  and  scenes.  As  tragedy 
moved  farther  and  farther  from  ordinary  Hfe  and 
adopted  the  unfamiliar  accent  of  verse,  comedy  de- 
^  scended  from  romance  to  realism  and  found  easiest 
expression  in  prose.  The  increasing  divergence  be- 
tween the  paths  of  tragedy  and  comedy  seems  in 
harmony  with  the  classical  tradition  that  sought  to 
separate  them.  But  Galhc  influence  did  not  prevail 
to  the  exclusion  of  tragi-comedy.  Heroic  drama 
frequently  averted  tragedy  from  its  heroes,  and 
comedy  often  blended  more  serious  matter  with  lighter 
themes.  Habitually,  heroic  tragedy  uses  rhyme,  and 
comedy  prose,  yet  early  tragi-comedies  of  Dryden 
and  Etherege  experiment  with  rhyme,  and  tragedy, 
even  during  the  dominant  period  of  rhyme,  sometimes 
employs  prose  as  well  as  blank  verse.  Dramatists, 
like  Dryden,  who  preferred  tragedy,  also  wrote 
comedy;  comic  dramatists,  like  Congreve,  essayed 
tragedy. 

In  D'Avenant's  revival  of  drama  during  the  inter- 
regnum the  emphasis  had  fallen  on  the  side  of  more 
serious  drama.    With  the  opening  of  the  theatres, 

71 


72  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

comedies  of  Ben  Jonson  reappeared  on  the  boards 
and  stimulated  dramatists  like  Wilson.  The  influence 
of  Elizabethan  romantic  comedy,  and  still  more  of 
romantic  tragi-comedy,  so  far  as  it  persisted,  was 
diverted  chiefly  toward  heroic  drama.  Some  of  the 
comedies  of  Middleton,  Rowley,  and  Brome,  however, 
as  well  as  those  of  Ben  Jonson,  may  be  regarded  as 
Elizabethan  forerunners  of  the  realistic  tendencies  of 
Restoration  comedy.  In  an  age  that .  exalted  wit 
rather  than  humour,  and  external  form  rather  than 
innate  genius,  it  was  natural  for  drama  to  turn  to 
the  comedy  of  manners.  In  this  tendency,  a  potent 
force  was  the  influence  of  the  court.  The  Patent 
Theatres  held  their  license  from  the  King,  and  play- 
wrights sought  the  patronage  of  nobles  rather  than 
the  support  of  the  public.  Under  the  Merry  Monarch, 
drama  found  its  most  characteristic  expression  in 
comedy.^  Comedy  mirrored  not  English  nature, 
still  less  human  nature,  but  the  nature  of  the  court. 
Elizabethan  comedy  had  been  national ;  Restoration 
comedy  was  local.  Not  to  know  London  was  to 
argue  yourself  unknown.  Restoration  comedy  was 
'artificial,'  not  in  Lamb's  sense  that  it  dealt  with  an 
'^mreal  Utopia,  but  in  that  it  arbitrarily  narrowed  the 
range  of  comedy,  and  found  love  synonymous  with 
fashionable  intrigue. 

Although  the  comedy  of  manners  developed  in 
Elizabethan  days,  the  '  society  comedy '  of  the  Restora- 
tion may  conveniently  be  regarded  as  a  new  school. 

1  Crowne,  Dedication  to  Sir  Courtly  Nice,  1685  quarto :  'The 
greatest  pleasure  he  [i.e.  'our  late  most  Excellent  King']  had  from  the 
Stage  was  in  Comedy,  and  he  pften  Commanded  me  to  Write  it.* 


V  ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        73 

Its  real  founder  has  usually  been  held  to  be  'gentle  ^ 
George'  Ethereqe  (i 634-1635  ?-i69i?).  Handling 
the  comedy  of  manners  with  Gallic  grace  and  ease 
stimulated  by  residence  in  France,  Etherege  vividly 
portrays  the  outward  brilliancy  of  fashionable  London. 
His  gallants  and  fops  breathe  the  atmosphere  of 
Restoration  society,  and  reflect,  though  with  greater 
wit,  the  talk  and  thought  of  the  beau  monde. 

Pepys  pronounced  Etherege's  first  play,  The  * 
Comical  Revenge,  or  Love  in  a  Tub  (1664),  'very 
merry.'  ^  The  merriment  —  a  comic  underplot  in 
which  two  gamesters  translate  the  Elizabethan  art 
of  cony-catching  into  Restoration  'bubbhng'  —  is 
blended  with  a  romantic  love  plot.  Two  pairs  of 
lovers  are  involved  in  cross  purposes  and  compHca- 
tions  not  imlike  those  of  Midsummer  NigMs  Dream, 
and  unhappily  with  no  magic  philtre  to  aid  in  the 
solution,  which  has  finally  to  be  effected  by  a  sort  of 
tour  d^amour.  A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  play  is 
the  deHberate  adoption  of  rhyme  in  the  heroic  love  <- 
plot,^  but  the  spirit  of  Ehzabethan  romance  could 
not  thus  be  wooed  back.  How  far  poetic  imagination 
had  departed  from  the  drama  may  be  seen  in  Colonel 
Bruce's  speech  when  he  learns  that  Graciana  has 
given  her  love  to  another: 

Fate,  thou  hast  done  thy  worst,  thy  triumph  sing; 
Now  thou  hast  stung  so  home,  thou'st  lost  thy  sting. 
I  have  not  power,  Graciana,  to  exclaim  {After  a  pause) 
Against  your  fault ;  indeed  you  are  to  blame.     (Ill,  6) 


*  Diary,  4  Jan.,  1665.    Wheatley  edition,  IV,  325. 

'  Dryden's  Rival-Ladies  (1664)  also  employs  rhyme  somewhat. 


74  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

The  comic  underplot  suggests  Gallic  influence. 
Dufoy,  the  saucy  French  valet,  is  doubtless  a  descend- 
ant of  the  Mascarille  of  Moliere's  pre-Restoration 
comedies.^  The  local  colour  is  very  vivid  in  an 
effective  tavern  scene  (II,  3),  in  the  mention  of  resorts 
familiar  to  Samuel  Pepys,  hke  the  Fleece  tavern  and 
The  Rose,  and  especially  in  the  evidences  of  Cavalier 
feeling  in  the  sneers  at  Cromwell  and  his  followers. 
Sir  Nicholas  Cully  is  'one  whom  OUver,  for  the  tran- 
scendent knavery  and  disloyalty  of  his  father,  has  dis- 
honoured with  knighthood'  (I,  2),  and  when  Wheedle 
seeks  to  cozen  him  through  flattery,  it  is  by  suggesting 
that  he  is  the  ideal  gallant  —  'the  prettiest,  wittiest, 
wildest  gentleman  about  the  town,  and  a  Cavalier 
in  your  heart,  the  only  things  that  take  her '  (IV,  2) . 
Some  of  the  prose  dialogue  suggests  the  piquancy 
and  sprightliness  of  Etherege's  later  comedy. 

Etherege's  second  play,  She  Would  if  she  Could 
(1668),  emphasizes  the  characteristics  of  'society 
comedy.'  Freeman  and  Courtall  are  a  typical  pair 
of  gallants  whose  daily  round  of  life,  as  Gatty  tells 
them,  consists  in  'every  moment  ratthng  from  the 
eating-houses  to  the  playhouses,  from  the  playhouses 
to  the  Mulberry  Garden '  (II,  i) .  A  bit  of  their  own 
dialogue  shows   the   Restoration    view    of    honour: 

Courtall.  Fie,  fie,  the  keeping  of  one's  word  is  a  thing 
below  the  honour  of  a  gentleman. 

Freeman.  A  poor  shift !  fit  only  to  uphold  the  reputation 
of  a  paltry  citizen.     (II,  2) 

Lady  Cockwood's  defence  of  her  own  conduct  really 
supplies  tfa^  picture  of  the  lady  of  fashion:    'Were 
1  Gosse,  Seventeenth-Century  Studies,  p.  240. 


V         ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        75 

I  every  day  at  the  plays,,  the  Park,  and  Mulberry 
Garden,  with  a  kind  look  secretly  to  indulge  the  un- 
lawful passion  of  some  young  gallant ;  or  did  I  asso- 
ciate myself  with  the  gaming  madams,  and  were  every 
afternoon  at  my  Lady  Briefs  and  my  Lady  MeanwelFs 
at  ombre  and  quebas,  pretending  ill  luck  to  borrow 
money  of  a  friend,  and  then  pretending  good  luck 
to  excuse  the  plenty  to  a  husband,  my  suspicious 
demeanour  had  deserved  this'  (111,3).  The  charms 
of  the  town  and  the  horrors  of  the  country  are  por- 
trayed in  the  very  spirit  of  the  Memoirs  of  Count 
Grammont. 

Etherege's  dramatic  masterpiece  is  imquestionably 
The  Man  of  Mode,  or  Sir  Fopling  Flutter  (1676). 
SirJ'opling  Flutter  'lately  arrived  piping  hot  from 
Paris,'  with  six  footmen  with  French  names,  with 
French  phrases  at  his  tongue's  end,  and  French 
dances  at  the  tips  of  his  toes,  is  one  of  the  most  notable 
character  types  of  Restoration  comedy.  He  is  an 
ancestor  of  Lord  Foppington,  Sir  Courtly  Nice, 
and  many  other  fops.  The  Man  of  Mode  reflects 
the  usual  contempt  for  the  country.  Dorimant 
asserts  .to  Harriet  as  the  highest  proof  of  his  affection 
that  to  be  with  her  he  could  live  in  the  country 
*and  never  send  one  thought  to  London.'  But 
Harriet  cannot  believe  the  incredible :  *  Whate'er 
you  say,'  she  rejoins,  'I  know  all  beyond  High 
Park's  a  desert  to  you,  and  that  no  gallantry  can  draw 
you  farther '  (V,  2) .  She  herself,  however,  is  even  will- 
ing to  be  'mewed  up  in  the  country  again  .  .  .  rather 
than  be  married  to  a  man  I  do  not  care  for.'  Many 
of  Harriet's  scenes  are  typical  of  Etherege's  piquant 


76  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dialogue,  such  as  that  in  which  she  makes  light  of 
Dorimant's  advances  (IV,  i),  or  the  one  (III,  i)  where 
she  and  Young  Bellair  pretend  love  to  deceive 
their  parents  —  a  situation  not  unlike  that  in  Gold- 
smith's She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  where  Tony  Lumpkin 
and  Miss  Neville  deceive  Mrs.  Hardcastle  by  pre- 
tended bilHng  and  cooing.  So  vividly  does  The  Man 
of  Mode  mirror  the  Restoration  court  that  Dorimant 
has  sometimes  been  held  to  portray  Lord  Rochester ;  ^ 
Medley,  Sir  Charles  Sedley;  and  Sir  Fopling,  'Beau' 
Hewitt. 

Etherege  has  not  always  received  full  recognition 
for  his  services  to  the  drama.  Leigh  Hunt's  failure 
to  include  him  with  Wycherley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh, 
and  Farquhar  in  his  edition  of  the  comic  dramatists 
of  the  period  may  perhaps  have  had  its  effect.  The 
intrinsic  value  of  Etherege's  work  is  lessened,  to  be 
sure,  by  obvious  dramatic  defects.  He  is  weak  in 
plot  construction  and  in  dramatic  action ;  lacking 
deep  emotional  power,  he  glosses  over  shallowness 
with  a  superficial  veneer  of  easy  flippancy ;  he  turns 
comedy,  from  lashing  vice  with  ridicule,  to  laughter  at 
sin  as  well  as  at  folly.  Historically,  however,  his 
work  has  marked  importance.  In  the  early  introduc- 
tion of  rhymed  verse,  in  the  development  of  Ught  and 
graceful  prose  dialogue,  animated  with  wit  that  some- 
times rises  to  brilliancy,  in  the  establishment  of  a 
type  of  'society  comedy'  which  led  to  Congreve  and 
Sheridan,  and  in  vivid  reproduction  of  the  atmosphere 

^  Spence's  Anecdotes,  Malone  edition,  1820,  p.  116,  however,  quotes 
Lockier  as  saying  that  Etherege  'designed  Dorimont  [sic],  the  genteel 
rake  of  wit,  for  his  own  picture.' 


V         ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        77 

of  the  Restoration  heau  monde,  Etherege  is  entitled 
to  high  regard  both  for  his  actual  achievements  and 
for  what  he  heralded. 

A  strong  claimant  to  some  of  the  honours  of  early 
Restoration  comedy  which  seem  more  properly  to 
belong  to  Dryden  and  Etherege  was  William 
Wycherley  (i 640 ?-i  716).  The  story  that  Wycherley 
as  a  veteran  had  told  the  juvenile  Pope  that  he 
had  composed  his  comedies  at  very  early  dates  is, 
unfortunately,  based  on  the  unreliable  authority  of 
Spence's  Anecdotes,  but  it  at  least  suggests  Wycherley 's 
jealousy  of  the  prior  claims  of  other  early  comic 
writers.  Pope  is  thus  quoted  by  Spence:  *The 
chronology  of  Wycherley 's  Plays  I  was  well  acquainted 
with,  for  he  has  told  me  over  and  over.  Love  in  a 
Wood  he  wrote  when  he  was  but  nineteen;  The 
Gentleman  Dancing-Master  at  twenty-one;  the 
Plain  Dealer  at  twenty-five ;  and  the  Country  Wife 
at  one  or  two-and-thirty.' ^  If  Wycherley  wrote 
Love  in  a  Wood  at  nineteen,  it  would  antedate  the 
Patent  Theatres,  but  it  is  against  probabiHty  that  the 
various  plays  remained  so  long  in  manuscript,  and 
that  all  the  allusions  to  later  events  were  inserted  in 
final  revisions  for  later  stage  presentation.  Yet,  if 
Wycherley  must  yield  the  priority  which  he  probably 
coveted,  he  surpasses  earlier  comic  dramatists  of 
the  Restoration  in  power  and  dramatic  skill.  In  his 
hands,  comedy  is  grasped  with  brutal  but  undeniable 
force,  and  dragged  relentlessly  through  the  mire  of 
animalism.  For  some  years,  especially  while  Dryden 
was  devoting  his  best  energies  to  heroic  drama,  and 
*  Spence's  Anecdotes^  Malone  edition,  1820,  p.  125. 


78  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

« 
Etherege  was  so  far  indulging  in  his  'crying  sin,  idle- 
ness' as  to  lead  Rochester  to  rebuke  *his  long  seven 
years*   silence/  ^  Wycherley  was  the  central  figure 
of  Restoration  comedy. 

From  the  outset,  Wycherley  borrowed  freely. 
Love  in  a  Wood  (1671  ?)  owes  to  Moliere^  a  debt  not 
unnatural  in  a  writer  who  had  resided  in  France 
before  the  Restoration.  Probably  Wycherley  took 
hints  also  from  Sir  Charles  Sedley's  The  Mulberry 
Garden  (1668),  and  the  scene  in  'St.  James's  Park  at 
night'  (II,  i),  where  Vincent  and  Dapperwit  pursue 
Lady  Flippant  and  Lydia,  recalls  Etherege 's  Mulberry 
Garden  scene  in  She  Would  if  She  Could  (II,  i),  where 
Freeman  and  Courtall  pursue  Ariana  and  Gatty. 
The  dramatis  personce  are  for  the  most  part  Jon- 
sonian  'humour'  characters.  Ranger,  Dapperwit,^ 
Alderman  Gripe,  and  Lady  FHppant  are  obviously 
significant  names,  and,  for  that  matter,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  define  Mrs.  Joyner  as  'a  Match-maker,' 
or  Mrs.  Crossbite  as  'an  old  cheating  jill.'  The 
general  setting  in  which  these  characters  move  is 
sufficiently  suggested  in  Lady  Flippant's  speech: 
'Have  I  not  constantly  kept  Coven t-Garden  church, 
St.  Martin's,  the  playhouses,  Hyde  Park,  Mulberry 
garden,  and  all  the  other  public  marts  where  widows 
and  maids  are  exposed?'  (I,  i),  and  the  usual  moral 
attitude  by  her  indignant  exclamation,  'Fy!  madam, 

1  Rochester's  Session  of  the  Poets  (1675).  The  lines  may  have 
prompted  Etherege  to  write  The  Man  of  Mode  (1676). 

2  UEcole  des  Maris  and  UEcole  des  Femmes,  Ward,  III,  463. 

3  The  description  of  the  various  kinds  of  wit  in  the  conversation 
between  Dapperwit  and  Lydia  (II,  i)  seems  a  reminiscence  of  Touch- 
stone's seven  degrees  of  the  lie. 


V  ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY  79 

do  you  think  me  so  ill  bred  as  to  love  a  husband  ? ' 

(111,4). 

The  Gentleman  Dancing-Master  (167 1)  shows  Con- 
tinental influences  upon  Wycherley's  work.  'Mr. 
Paris,  or  Monsieur  de  Paris,  a  vain  coxcomb,  and  rich 
city  heir,  newly  returned  from  France,  and  mightily 
affected  with  the  French  language  and  fashions,'  is 
an  earlier  Sir  FopHng  Futter.  The  dancing-lesson 
scenes  seem  derived  from  Calderon's  El  Maestro  de 
Danzar.  But  French  and  Spanish  sources  do  not 
supply  the  EngHsh  immoraHty.  The  conversation  in 
the  opening  scene  between  Hippolita  and  her  maid 
Prue  shows  the  chasm  that  separates  the  ingenue  of 
French  drama  from  her  Restoration  counterpart. 
What  the  Restoration  age  thought  of  itself  has  excel- 
lent definition  in  HippoHta's  phrase,  'By  what  IVe 
heard,  'tis  a  pleasant,  well-bred,  complaisant,  free, 
frolic,  good-natured,  pretty  age'  (I,  i).  And  what 
London  thought  of  the  country  appears  in  her  re- 
mark to  Gerrard,  'What  young  woman  of  the  town 
could  ever  say  no  to  a  coach  and  six,  unless  it  were 
going  into  the  country'  (III,  i). 

In  The  Country  Wife  (1673  ?),  Wycherley  reveals  at 
once  perhaps  the  height  of  his  dramatic  power  and 
the  depth  of  his  moral  degradation.  (^Borrowing  from 
MoHere's  UEcole  des  Femmes  something  of  the  general 
situation  for  his  main  plot,  he  transformed  the  real 
ingenue  Agnes  into  Mrs.  Pinchwife,  whose  nominal 
purity  at  the  outset  is  due  to  lack  of  opportunity  to 
sin.  The  progress  of  her  corruption  when  she  is 
transferred  from  the  country  to  the  fashionable 
world  of  London  is  detailed  without  sympathy  either 


8o  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

for  the  degraded  wife  or  for  the  dishonoured  husbandry 
Horner,  who  prosecutes  his  vices  through  an  assump- 
tion perhaps  the  most  atrocious  in  all  Restoration 
comedy,  is  Wycherley's  real  hero.  Ingenuity  is 
prostituted  in  the  service  of  animal  license.  From 
Moliere's  VEcole  des  Maris,  Wycherley  took  the 
device  of  making  an  unsuspecting  lover  the  bearer  of 
a  love  letter  to  another,  but  in  his  hands  the  mild 
deception  of  a  would-be  husband  becomes  grim 
tragedy,  when  Mrs.  Pinchwife  makes  her  husband 
the  bearer  to  Homer  of  the  message  of  his  own  dis- 
honour. I^d  when,  at  the  end  of  the  play,  Pinchwife 
remains  unconscious  of  the  ruin  wrought,  and  the 
curtain  falls  to  a  mocking  dance  of  cuckolc[s,^o!ie 
^ees^'^IE'e'guir'l^efween  e^  of 

Ehzabethan  drama  and  what  the  Restoration  age 
termed  '  comedy.  \J 

Yet,  when  The  Country  Wife  could  not  longer  be 
tolerated  on  the  stage,  Garrick  was  able  to  recast  some 
of  the  material  of  the  play  in  The  Country  Girl,  which 
continued  to  hold  the  stage  and  has  had  modern 
revivals.  Even  more  striking  is  the  fact  that,  in 
The  School  for  Scandal,  Sheridan,  in  the  story  of  Sir 
Peter  and  Lady  Teazle,  handled  essentially  the  same 
general  situation,  but  in  a  different  atmosphere.  Like 
Mrs.  Pinchwife,  Lady  Teazle  is  a  'country  wife' 
who  is  plunged  into  the  sea  of  temptation  in  London 
society,  but  she  is  rescued  from  the  waves  which 
submerge  Mrs.  Pinchwife. 

The  Plain  Dealer  (1674)  furnishes  the  best  illus- 
tration of  Wycheley's  indebtedness  to  French  drama. 
Manly,  the  'plain  dealer,'  is  so  obviously  taken  from 


V  ETHERZGE  AND   WYCHERLEY  8l 

Moliere's  Le  Misanthrope  as  to  make  it  seem  remark- 
able that  Wycherley  could  borrow  from  Moliere  so 
much  of  the  letter,  and  so  little  of  the  spirit,  of  his 
work.  The  verba)  parallels  are  sometimes  so  close 
as  to  be  literal  tr^-nslation.^  Sincerity  in  word  and 
deed  is  the  motto  of  both  Manly  and  Alceste.  Both 
are  merciless  to  flatterers,  both  object  to  the  misuse  of 
the  word '  friend '  an  i  to  esteem  lavished  on  everybody. 
Yet  Moliere  would  not  have  created  the  debased 
Manly,  and  Wycher^'ey  could  not  have  conceived  the 
spirit  of  Alceste.  The  influence  of  MoKere  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  title-role.  Oronte  suggests 
Major  Oldfox  in  his  desire  for  flattery  of  his  literary 
merits.  CeHmene  plays  with  Acaste  and  Clitandre 
as  Olivia  does  with  Novel  and  Plausible,  and  OUvia's 
duplicity  toward  them  is  disclosed,  as  in  MoHere, 
by  an  exchange  of  letters.  In  The  Plain  Dealer 
Wycherley  comments  on  The  Country  Wife  as  does 
Moliere  on  his  own  play  in  the  Critique  de  UEcole  des 
Femmes.  In  a  famiHar  passage  in  his  Letters  concern- 
ing the  English  Nation,  ^  Voltaire  draws  this  compari- 
son :  'All  Wycherley^ s  strokes  are  stronger  and  bolder 
than  those  of  our  Misanthrope,  but  then  they  are  less 
delicate,  and  the  Rules  of  Decorum  are  not  so  well  ob- 
served in  this  Play.'  Another  possible  French  in- 
fluence has  been  noticed  in  The  Plain  Dealer,  the 
resemblance  of  the  Widow  Blackacre  to  the  Countess 


^  Compare  the  scenes  where  Philinte  takes  issue  with  Alceste,  and 
Freeman  with  Manly,  on  their  insistence  upon  absolute  sincerity 
in  speech.  Note  their  identical  laconic  responses,  e.g.  *Oui'  — 
*  Yes ' ;  *  Sans  doute '  —  *  No  doubt  on't.' 

^  1733  edition.  Letter  xix,  pp.  182-3. 
6 


82  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

in  Racine's  Les  Plaideurs  (1668).  Wycherley's  brief 
experience  in  law  may  have  supplied  some  specific 
touches  to  a  portrait  which  has  sometimes  been 
unjustly  regarded  as  an  absolute  copy  of  Racine. 

The  Plain  Dealer  takes  its  hero  from  Moliere,  its 
heroines  from  Shakespeare.  FideUa  is  a  debased 
Viola  —  a  pandar  to  Manly's  base  intrigue.  Olivia's 
fondness  for  her,  the  very  name  Olivia,  Fidelia's 
disguise,  the  duel  thrust  upon  her  —  all  clearly  recall 
Twelfth  Night.  Yet,  despite  the  fact  that  Wycherley 
not  merely  borrowed  but  defaqed  his  borrowings, 
he  is  more  than  a  faint  echo  of  great  originals.  The 
skill  with  which  he  cx)mbined  varied  materials,  the 
vigour,  however  animal,  which  he  imparted  to  some- 
of  his  characters,  the  dialogue  through  which  they 
move  and  in  which  they  have  their  being,  bear  wit- 
ness to  dramatic  power.  Wycherley's  Olivia,  though 
her  nimbleness  of  wit  in  dissecting  suitors  may  not 
vie  with  Portia's,  gives  a  spirited  description  of  cox- 
combry, and  at  times  anticipates  Lady  Teazle  and  her 
school.  Of  Lady  Autumn  she  says,  'She  looks  like 
an  old  coach  new  painted;  affecting  an  unseemly 
smugness,  whilst  she  is  ready  to  drop  in  pieces'; 
of  her  daughter,  '  She  is  still  most  splendidly,  gallantly 
ugly,  and  looks  like  an  ill  piece  of  daubing  in  a  rich 
frame'  (II,. i).  In  the  'Apology'  that  prefaced  his 
State  of  Innocence,  Dry  den  pronounced  The  Plain 
Dealer  'one  of  the  most  bold,  most  general,  and  most 
useful  satires,  which  has  ever  been  presented  on  the 
English  theatre.'^  With  somewhat  the  same  feeling, 
Congreve's  Prologue  to  Love  for  Love  (1695)  declares 

that 

1  Scott-Saintsbury  edition  of  Dryden,  V,  115. 


V          ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        83 

Since  The  Plain  Dealer^ s  scenes  of  manly  rage 
Not  one  has  dared  to  lash  this  crying  age. 

The  boldness  of  Wycherley^s  satire  need  not  be  dis- 
puted, but  the  hypocrisy  which  he  lashed  was  not  that 
of  vicious  passion.  'Honest  Manly'  did  well  to 
anticipate  Burns  in  asserting,  'I  weigh  the  man, 
not  his  title ;  'tis  not  the  king's  stamp  can  make  the 
metal  better  or  heavier'  (I,  i).  Yet  Wycherley's 
estimate  of  manhood  did  not  rest  on  moral  integrity. 

Of  Wycherley's  general  merits  as  a  dramatist,  per- 
haps the  most  obvious  is  strength.  'Manly'  Wych- 
erley  he  was  dubbed,  and,  however  brutalized  the 
man,  and  however  animal  the  strength,  there  rims 
through  his  work  a  dominant  tone  of  masculine  virility. 
This  strength  of  dramatic  power  expresses  itself  in 
plot,  character,  and^  comic  spirit.  Though  his  plots 
are  generally  borrowed,  tE^  are  skilfully  constructed 
and  combined.  The  characters  are  distinct  and 
often  memorable  —  Manly,  the  'Plain  Dealer,'  Mrs. 
Pinch  wife,  the  ingenue,  the  Widow  Blackacre,  the 
'pert  railing  Coxcomb'  Novel, ^Sparkish,  and  Major 
Oldfox.  Wycherley's  defects  are  self-evident.  His 
strength  is  perverted  by  harsh  cynicism,  bitter  irony, 
and  animalism.  The  passions  are  unmuzzled,  and 
virtue  is  derided.  Yet  he  remains  a  commanding 
figure  in  early  Restoration  comedy. 

The  influence  of  Moliere  upon  Restoration  comedy, 
so  apparent  in  the  work  of  Etherege  and  Wycherley, 
by  no  means  brought  about  an  essentially  Gallicized 
English  comedy.  Side  by  side  with  Gallic  influence 
was  maintained  the  English  line  of  tradition.  Jon- 
son,  who  had  found  an  early  follower  in  Wilson,  was 


84  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

an  acknowledged  model  to  Dryden  when  he  sought 
*a  mingled  chime  Of  Jonson's  humour,  with  Corneille's 

^-^  rhyme.'  ^  Still  more  marked  homage  was  paid  to 
Jonson   in    the   deliberate    theory   and   practice   of 

'^ 'RiOMAS  Shadwell  (i642?-i692).  In  the  Preface 
to  The  Sullen  Lovers  (1668),  his  first  comedy,  Shad- 
well  calls  Jonson  Hhe  man  of  all  the  world,  I  most 
passionately  admire  for  his  excellency  in  his  dramatic 
poetry.'  The  Humorists  (1670)  bears,  in  its  title,  testi- 
mony to  the  declarations  in  its  Preface.  The  Virtuoso 
(1676)  has  'humour'  characters  like  Sir  Formal  Trifle, 
the  Orator,  and  Sir  Nicholas  Gimcrack,  the  Virtuoso, 
who  is  so  fond  of  theoretical  knowledge  that  he  con- 
tents himself  'with  the  Speculative  part  of  Swimming' 
by  practising  on  a  table.  Shadwell,  indeed,  borrowed 
readily  from  MoHere,  as  in  The  Sullen  Lovers  and  The 
Miser  (1671),  but  the  Preface  to  the  latter  play 
asserts  that,  '  'Tis  not  barrenness  of  wit  or  invention, 
that  makes  us  borrow  from  the  French,  but  laziness.' 
Even  in  this  adaptation  of  L^Avare,  Shadwell  added 
numerous  characters  not  in  the  original,  and  Bury 
Fair  is  indebted  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle's  Trium- 
phant Widow  as  well  as  to  Les  Precieuses  Ridicules. 

Prejudged  by  Dryden's  'But  Shadwell  never  de- 
viates into  sense,'  Thomas  Shadwell  has  often  failed 
to  secure  a  fair  hearing.  Yet  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
more  faithful  reproduction  of  the  details  of  fashionable 
Restoration  Kfe  than  in  some  of  his  comedies  of  man- 

/-  ners.  With  the  usual  Restoration  coarseness,  Shad- 
well portrays  vividly  the  external  minutiae  of  fashion 
and  folly.     Epsom  Wells  (1672)  is  a  lively  picture  of 

•  Prologue  to  Secret  Love  (printed  1668). 


V         ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        85 

contemporary  life.  The  characters  include  a  pair  of 
deceived  husbands,  Mrs.  Jilt,  who  runs  the  gauntlet 
of  gallantry  with  many  stumbKngs,  Clodpate,  a  stupid 
Country  Justice,  who  is  captured  by  Mrs.  Jilt^s 
crafty  catering  to  his  known  aversion  to  London, 
Kick  and  Cuff,  bullies  whose  function  is  to  assault 
unprotected  women,  and  Rain  and  Bevil,  two  fast 
Londoners,  who  are  won  to  marriage,  after  many 
amours,  by  Lucia  and  Carolina.  Some  chance 
passages  in  the  opening  scene  illustrate  the  general 
tone  towards  wine  and  women :  ^  We  should  no  more 
be  troubled  at  the  Feavers  we  get  in  drinking,  than 
the  Honourable  woimds  we  receive  in  Battle';  *We 
live  more  in  a  week,  than  those  insipid-temperate- 
fools  do  in  a  year' ;  ^Is  it  not  better  to  let  life  go  out 
in  a  blaze  than  a  snuff  ? '  '  Well,  the  sin's  so  sweet,  and 
the  temptation  so  strong ;  I  have  no  power  to  resist  it.' 
Though  his  earlier  plays  are  so  far  contemporary 
with  those  of  Etherege  and  Wycherley  that  he  shares 
with  them  some  of  the  early  distinctions  in  Restora- 
tion comedy,  his  comedies,  like  Dryden's,  continued 
long  after  theirs  had  ceased.  Shadwell  satisfied 
the  popular  taste  for  opera  in  his  version  of  The 
Tempest  (1673)  ^  and  in  Psyche  (1674),  produced  with 
elaborate  scenery.  In  revising  Timon  of  A  thens  (1678), 
the  veneration  for  Shakespeare  expressed  in  ShadwelPs 
tribute  did  not  prevent  him  from  adding :  'Yet  I  can 
truly  say,  I  have  made  it  into  a  Play.'  ^    Among  his 

*  This  should  not  be  confused  with  the  version  by  D'Avenant  and 
Dryden,  acted  1667,  printed  1670. 

2  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  The  History  of  Timon  of  Athens j  the  Man- 
Hater^  1678  quarto. 


86  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

later  plays  are  A  True  Widow,  The  Lancashire  Witches, 
The  Squire  of  Alsatia  (1688),  in  which  the  lively  local 
colour  of  Whitefriars  is  emphasized  with  an  abun- 
dance of  sharpers'  slang,  and  Bury  Fair  (1689),  often 
regarded  as  his  best  comic  achievement.  Almost  a 
score  of  pieces  for  the  stage  testify  to  dramatic  activity 
which  was  not  wholly  checked  either  by  Dryden's 
satire  of  the  'last  great  prophet  of  tautology'  or  by 
that  prophet's  succession  to  the  laureateship  left 
vacant  by  the  satirist.  It  is  indicative  of  the  trend 
of  the  times  that  three  laureates,  D'Avenant,  Dryden, 
and  Shadwell,  are  prominently  connected  with  the 
history  of  Restoration  drama.  Shadwell's  own  posi- 
tion in  that  drama  is  suggested  in  Rochester's  dis- 
passionate words : 

ShadwelVs  unfinish'd  Works  do  yet  impart 
Great  Proofs  of  Force  of  Nature,  none  of  Art ; 
With  just  bold  Strokes  he  dashes  here  and  there, 
Shewing  great  Mastery  with  Httle  Care.^ 

Not  merely  the  excesses  of  heroic  drama,  but  the 
shortcomings  of  Restoration  comedy,  were  exposed 
in  the  Prologue  to  The  Rehearsal: 

Our  Poets  make  us  laugh  at  Tragedy, 
And  with  their  Comedies  they  make  us  cry. 

Yet  comedy  in  the  early  years  of  the  Restoration 
finds  not  unworthy  expression  in  the  work  of  Wilson, 
Dryden,  Etherege,  Wycherley,  and  Shadwell.  Her- 
alded by  the  Jonsonian  'humour'  comedy,  the  Res- 
toration comedy  of  manners  had  now  stepped  forth 
to  take  the  centre  of  the  comic  stage.  Reproducing 
*  The  Works  of  .  .  .  John  Earl  of  Rochester,  17 18,  p.  21. 


ETHEREGE  AND  WYCHERLEY        87 


\i 


ithout  reserve  the  license  and  immorality,  as  well  as 
the  fashions  and  foibles  of  society,  it  presented  a 
brilliant  picture  of  the  London  world.  Superficial, 
almost  of  necessity,  was  the  comedy  that  mirrored 
the  manners  of  a  superficial  society.  Yet  the  type 
of  comedy  already  presented  by  earlier  dramatists 
was  to  develop  greatly  in  the  work  of  WilHam  Con- 
greve,  and  its  genius,  purged  of  offence,  was  to  find 
full  expression  in  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DRYDEN,   LEE,  AND  OTWAY 

.  The  record  of  early  Restoration  tragedy  and  comedy 
alike  shows  ceaseless  conflict  between  English  and 
Continental  forces.  When  Dryden,  abandoning 
rhyme,  sought  in  All  for  Love  (1678)  a  Shakespearean 
model  both  in  verse  and  subject,  the  tide  of  battle 
seems  to  turn  decisively.  In  reality,  the  victory  of 
EKzabethan  practice  over  classical  theory  is  but 
partial.  Dryden's  very  Preface  shows  that  he  serves 
two  masters ;  for,  if  he  loves  'the  divine  Shakespeare,' 
he  certainly  does  not  hate  Hhe  ancients,  who,  as  Mr. 
Rymer  has  judiciously  observed,  are  and  ought  to 
be  our  masters.'  In  Thomas  Rymer  (1641-1713), 
whom  Dryden  thus  quoted  with  approval,  Eliza- 
bethan drama  found  an  intolerant  critic.  In  his 
Preface  to  an  English  translation  of  Rapin's  Reflec- 
tions on  Aristotle^ s  Treatise  of  Poesie  (1674),  Rymer 
tried  to  show  'how  imhappy  the  greatest  English 
Poets  have  been  through  their  ignorance  or  negli- 
gence of  these  fundamental  Rules  and  Laws  of 
Aristotle.^  In  the  very  year  of  the  production  of 
All  for  Love,  he  concentrated  his  attack  upon  Eliza- 
bethan drama  in  The  Tragedies  of  The  last  Age,  Con- 
sidered and  Examined  by  the  Practice  of  the  Ancients,  and 
by  the  Common  sense  of  all  Ages,  and  made  an  in- 
effective effort  to  translate  theory  into  practice  by 

88 


CHAP.  VI  DRYDEN,   LEE,  AND  OTWAY  89 

publishing  a  rhymed  heroic  tragedy,  Edgar}  It  is 
perhaps  suggestive  that,  of  the  six  plays  which  Rymer 
proposed  to  discuss  as  examples  of  'the  choicest 
and  most  applauded  English  Tragedies  of  this  last 
age/  three  were  by  Fletcher,  two  by  Shakespeare, 
and  one  by  Jonson.  As  the  attack  upon  Fletcher 
exhausted  his  limits  of  space,  Shakespeare  escaped 
for  the  nonce.  But  these  were  not  passing  shots  of 
criticism.  In  A  Short  View  of  Tragedy;  It^s  Original, 
Excellency,  and  Corruption.  With  some  Reflections  on 
Shakes  pear  and  other  Practitioners  for  the  Stage  (1693), 
Rymer  still  stood  by  his  guns.  From  the  standpoint 
of  'common  sense'  he  aimed  in  earnest  at  the  license 
of  Elizabethan  romantic  drama,  as  the  light-hearted 
authors  of  The  Rehearsal  had  done  in  jest  at  the  ex- 
cesses of  heroic  drama.  'We  want,'  he  urged,  'a 
law  for  Acting  the  Rehearsal  once  a  week,  to  keep  us 
in  our  senses.'  ^  Sense,  indeed,  there  is  beneath  the 
nonsense  of  The  Rehearsal,  but  Rymer's  'sense'  leads 
him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  'tragical  part'  of 
Othello  'is,  plainly  none  other,  than  a  Bloody  Farce, 
without  salt  or  savour.'  ^  There  is  Uttle  need  to 
discuss  here  verdicts  on  Rymer  ranging  from  Pope's 
opinion  that  he  was  'on  the  whole,  one  of  the  best 
critics  we  ever  had '  ^  to  Macaulay 's  brusque  charac- 
terization of  him  as  the  worst  critic  that  ever  lived. 
What  is  significant  is  that   Rymer  was  a  prophet 

^  Many  of  Rymer's  couplets  seem  to  indicate  either  extraordinary 
perversities  of  rhyme  or  lapses  into  blank  verse. 
2  A  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  p.  158. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  146. 
*  Spence,  Anecdotes,  Malone  edition,  1820,  p.  85. 


go  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

not  without  honour  in  his  own  day  and  in  later  genera- 
tions that  felt  the  classical  impulse.  The  passing  of 
rhymed  heroic  drama  may  have  urged  the  swing  of 
the  pendulum  toward  EHzabethan  dramatic  models, 
but  the  weight  of  classical  authority  retarded  the 
motion. 

The  Preface  to  All  for  Love  shows  Dry  den's  own 
indecision.  Though  he  shakes  off  the  fetters  of  *A 
rhyme  under  which  the  Prologue  to  Aureng-Zebe 
had  shown  him  to  be  restless,  the  verdict  against 
rhyme  is  qualified :  '  In  my  style,  I  have  professed  to 
imitate  the  divine  Shakespeare ;  which  that  I  might 
perform  more  freely,  I  have  disencumbered  myself  ^{ 
from  rhyme.  Not  that  I  condemn  my  former  way, 
but  that  this  is  more  proper  to  my  present  purpose.' 
He  admits,  with  Rymer,  that  the  ancients  'are  and 
ought  to  be  our  masters.  .  .  .  Yet,  though  their 
models  are  regular,  they  are  too  little  for  English 
tragedy ;  which  requires  to  be  built  in  a  larger  com- 
pass.' But  the  old  fear  that  the  Elizabethan  compass 
was  too  large  seems  to  linger:  'The  fabric  of  the 
play  is  regular  enough,  as  to  the  inferior  parts  of  it ; 
and  the  unities  of  time,  place,  and  action,  more 
exactly  observed,  than  perhaps  the  English  theatre 
requires.  Particularly,  the  action  is  so  much  one, 
that  it  is  the  only  of  the  kind  without  episode,  or 
underplot;  every  scene  in  the  tragedy  conducing 
to  the  main  design,  and  every  act  concluding  with  a 
turn  of  it.'  In  contrast  with  the  romantic  freedom 
of  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  All  for  Love  shows  classical  ^^ 
restraint.  Dryden  compresses  time  and  action,  and 
confines  the  scene  to  Alexandria ;  Shakespeare  sweeps 


VI  DRYDEN,   LEE,   AND   OTWAY  91 

in  action  over  a  dozen  years  and  in  scene  over  seas 
and  continents.  Equally  marked  is  the  contrast 
between  Dryden's  simplicity  and  Shakespeare's 
multiplicity  in  number  of  dramatis  personce  and 
of  separate  scenes.  Dryden's  deference  to  classic 
theories  results  happily  for  him  in  an  avoidance  of 
some  direct  comparisons  with  Shakespeare  which 
might  have  been  fatal.  He  could  not  hope  to 
rival  the  imperial  sweep  and  infinite  variety  of 
Shakespeare's  world  tragedy,  but  the  classical  limita- 
tions brought  a  gain  in  unity  and  concentration  of 
action. 

Soimd  sense  and  becoming  modesty  are  not  wanting 
in  Dryden's  estimate  of  his  own  drama.  *  Since  I 
must  not  be  over-confident  of  my  own  performance 
after  him  [Shakespeare],  it  will  be  prudence  in  me  to 
be  silent.  Yet,  I  hope,  I  may  affirm,  and  without 
vanity,  that  by  imitating  him,  I  have  excelled  myself 
throughout  the  play;  and  particularly,  that  I  prefer 
the  scene  betwixt  Antony  and  Ventidius  in  the  first 
act,  to  anything  which  I  have  written  in  this  kind.' 
Dryden's  hopes  have  been  realized  and  his  judgment 
usually  confirmed.  The  only  play  which  he  wrote 
to  please  himself  pleased  both  his  contemporaries 
and  the  audiences  of  the  next  century,  and  has  found 
high  favour  with  modern  critics.  Though  admittedly 
inferior  to  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  All  for  Love  may 
fairly  be  said  to  be  worthy  of  its  great  theme.  Dry- 
den's Cleopatra  cannot  stand  with  one  of  whom  her 
greatest  critic  wrote,  'Age  cannot  wither  her,  Nor 
custom  stale  her  infinite  variety.'  Yet,  in  his  verse, 
»ryden  touched  perhaps  the  height  of  poetic  tragedy 


4. 


92  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

of  his  age.  Save  Milton's/  Restoration  blank  verse 
had  but  rarely  triumphed.  But  Antony's  words  over 
Ventidius  have  almost  the  Shakespearean  note,  and 
many  passages  in  the  drama  not  merely  arrest  atten- 
tion, but  charm  the  fancy. 

In  the  actual  manipulation  of  the  plot  there  are 
marked  differences  between  All  for  Love  and  Antony 
and  Cleopatra.  Shakespeare  keeps  Octavia  and  Cleo- 
patra apart ;  Dryden7paying  toll  perhaps  to  the  unity 
of  place,  brings  them  together  in  what^cptt  calls  a 
'scolding  scene.'  -  Shakespeare's  Antony  really  mourns 
the  loss  of  his  first  wife,  and  accepts  Octavia  with  good 
intentions.  Shakespeare  introduces  the  defection 
and  final  repentance  of  Enobarbus,  and  the  scene 
of  the  drunken  carousal  on  Pompey's  galley,  but 
has  only  a  hint  of  the  Dolabella-Cleo^atra  episode 
which  Dryden  makes  prominent.  It  is  noteworthy 
ILhat  perhaps  the  highest  achievement  of  Restoration 
tragedy,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Otway's 
Venice  Preserved,  turns  not  to  French  masters,  but 
to  the  greatest  Enghsh  dramatist.  Yet  the  reversion 
toward  an  Elizabethan  model  is  somewhat  checked 
by  the  restraint  of  classical  convention. 

In  the  same  year  with  All  for  Love  (1678),  Dryden 
produced  a  coarse  comedy,  Limberham,  or  The  Kind 
Keeper,  and,  in  conjunction  with  Nathaniel  Lee, 
(Edipus,  a  tragedy  of  which  the  theme  is  classical, 
but  in  which  the  introduction  of  incantations  and 

^Samson  Agonistes  (1671),  which  Milton's  preface  declares  'never 
was  intended '  for  the  stage,  and  which  accordingly  omitted  *  divii3*x>n 
into  act  and  scene/  belongs  to  poetical  rather  than  to  dramatic 
literature. 


VI  DRYDEN,  LEE,  AND  OTWAY  93 

ghosts  (Act  III)  seems  Elizabethan.  With  Lee  he 
again  collaborated  in  The  Duke  of  Guise  (1682).  To 
Troilus  and  Cressida  (1679),  an  alteration  from  Shake- 
speare, Dryden  prefixed  his  important  essay  on 
The  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Tragedy,  in  which  he 
extols  the  genius  of  characterization  in  Shakespeare 
and  Fletcher,  a  'limb  of  Shakespeare,'  but  cites  with 
approval  Rymer's  strictures  on  their  plots,  and  advo- 
cates strongly  the  classical  unity  of  action.  The 
Spanish  Friar,  or  The  Double  Discovery  (1681),  a 
tragi-comedy,  reveals  more  comic  force  than  was 
usual  with  Dryden,  and  suggests  that  his  own  con- 
fession that  he  was  'not  so  fitted  by  nature  to  write 
comedy'  ^  as  more  serious  drama  has  perhaps  been 
accepted  too  readily  as  sufiicient  proof  of  his  medioc- 
rity in  comedy.  In  Scott's  opinion,  Dryden's  dra- 
matic masterpiece  is  Don  Sebastian  (1690),  a  tragedy 
in  blank  verse  and  prose.  Its  length  and  the  poverty 
of  its  comic  parts  hardly  justify  this  superlative,  but 
the  characters  of  Sebastian  and  Dorax  are  strongly 
drawn  and  their  clash  results  in  a  powerful  dramatic 
scene  (IV,  3).  In  the  same  year  appeared  Amphi- 
tryon, in  which  Dryden  follows  Plautus  and  Moh^re, 
but  with  real  individuality  of  treatment,  and  with  a 
vigour  coarse,  but  undeniable.  In  Cleomenes  (1692), 
he  took  a  Spartan  hero  from  Plutarch  and  fashioned  a 
tragedy  that  suggests  the  general  influence  of  French 
classical  tendencies,  though  perhaps,  as  Scott  con- 
ceived, with  some  specific  obligation  to  Fletcher's 
Bonduca.  An  unsuccessful  tragi-comedy,  Love  Trium- 
phant (1694)  has  Uttle  interest  apart  from  the  fact 
*  A  Defertce  of  an  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  Essays,  Ker,  1, 116. 


94  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

that,  like  Cleomenes,  it  sometimes  employs  rhymed 
couplets. 
>y  Dryden's  operas  deserve  some  mention,  not  from 
their  intrinsic  merits,  but  from  their  bearings  on  the 
development  of  EngHsh  opera.  Albion  and  Albanius 
(1685),  with  music  by  the  French  bandmaster  of 
Charles  II,  shows  the  growing  influence  of  French 
opera  at  a  time  when  Locke  and  Purcell  had  already 
given  attention  to  operatic  productions.  Saint-Evre- 
mond,  who  professed  himself  'no  great  Admirer  of 
Comedies  in  Musick,'  ^  confessed  some  interest  in  their 
'magnificence,'  their  surprising  'machines,'  and  their 
sometimes  'charming'  music,  but  found  them,  on  the 
whole,  'very  tedious.'  To  the  modern  reader,  Albion 
and  Albanius,  and  its  sequel,  King  Arthur,  or  The  British 
Worthy  (1691)  seem  to  confirm  Saint-Evremond's 
caustic  definition  of  opera  as  'An  odd  Medley  of  Poetry 
and  Musick,  wherein  the  Poet  and  the  Musician, 
equally  confined  one  by  the  other,  take  a  world  of 
Pains  to  compose  a  wretched  Performance. '  Dryden's 
operas,  however,  help  to  confirm  the  variety  of  his 
dramatic  product  and  to  illustrate  the  influence  of 
French  opera  upon  the  later  Restoration  stage. 

In  the  history  of  Restoration  drama,  Dryden  holds 
the  centre  of  the  scene.  The  foremost  of  the  heroic 
dramatists,  he  formulated  the  rules  of  the  school, 
produced  its  chief  examples,  and  by  abandoning  rhyme 
sealed  its  fate.  In  the  return  to  blank  verse  and  the 
partial  recurrence  to  other  EHzabethan  dramatic 
standards,  he  is  again  the  commanding  figure.  As 
he  matured,  his  critical  judgments  changed  decidedly. 
*  Works  of  Monsieur  de  S*,  Evremond,  1714,  II,  85-87, 


VI  DRYDEN,  LEE,   AND  OTWAY  95 

His  appreciation  of  Shakespeare,  at  first  checked 
by  the  conventional  attitude  of  his  day  to  the  *  bar- 
barous age'  of  Elizabeth,  finally  outgrew  artificial 
restraint.  The  larger  charity  of  old  age  led  him 
to  accept  in  the  main  the  strictures  which  Jeremy 
ColHer  passed  upon  the  looseness  of  his  earlier 
dramatic  work.^  His  death  closed  the  century. 
Already  the  old  order  was  changing,  as  the  tide  of 
moral  regeneration  rose  steadily.  Of  the  many 
parts  which  Dryden  played  in  the  history  of  English 
hterature  the  greatest  was  not  in  drama.  Yet  he 
remains,  despite  his  limitations,  the  most  imposing 
figure  in  Restoration  dramatic  history. 

It  has  been_convenient  to  regard  the  year  1678  v. 
as  the  end  of  the  period  of  rhymed  heroic  drama  and 
to  consider,  though  with  some  qualifications,  All  for^ 
Love  SiS  in  some  sense  a  point  of  departure  for  the  res- 
toration of  blank  verse  and  other  Elizabethan  ten- 
dencies. One  evidence  of  the  growth  of  Elizabethan 
influence  is  the  decided  increase  thereafter  in  Restora- 
tion adaptations  of  Shakespeare.  More  significant, 
however,  in  the  increasing  dominance  of  Elizabethan 
forces  is  the  advent  of  two  powerful  tragic  dramatists 
who  belong  essentially  to  the  new  period  of  blank- 
verse  tragedy.  Among  the  heroic  dramatists  Dryden  -•■ 
towered  almost  solitary.  In  blank- verse  tragedy,  v^ 
Nathaniel  Lee  and  Thomas  Otway  rose  to  heights  that 
fairly  challenged  comparison.  Through  the  tawdry 
bombast  of  Lee's  verse  break  many  gleams  of  true 
poetry,  and  in  Venice  Preserved  Otway  equalled,  if  he 
did  not  surpass,  Dryden's  highest  dramatic  achieve- 
ment, 

1  Dryden,  Preface  to  the  Fables^  Ker,  II,  272. 


96  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Widely  separated  in  many  ways  as  tragic  dramatists, 
Nathaniel  Lee  (i653?-i692)  and  Thomas  Otway 
(165 2-1 685),  were  close  contemporaries.  Their  early 
lives  had  much  in  common.  Both  were  sons  of  clergy- 
men, attended  one  of  the  great  imiversities,  failed 
as  actors,  and  turned  to  playwriting.  Both  produced 
their  first  plays  in  1675,  and  both  used  rhyme,  wholly 
or  chiefly,  in  their  first  three  tragedies.  This  fact 
is  but  another  warning  against  attempts  to  estabHsh 
inelastic  divisions  between  Uterary  periods  and  to 
make  individual  dramatists  conform  to  arbitrary 
classification.  Schooled  in  rhyme,  they  outgrew 
early  habit,  and  Lee  anticipated  Dryden  in  the  actual 
adoption  of  blank  verse. 

In  Nero  {i6'j$),  Sophonisba,  or  Hannibars  Overthrow 
(1676),  and  Glorianaj  or  The  Court  of  Augustus 
CcBsar  (1676),  Lee  wrote  tragedy,  chiefly  in  rhyme, 
with  semi-historical  themes  and  the  foreign  setting 
usual  in  heroic  drama.  His  great  dramatic  success 
The  Rival  Queens,  or  The  Death  of  Alexander  the  Great 
(1677)  anticipated  All  for  Love  in  the  use  of  blank 
verse.  Like  Gloriana,  it  is  indebted  to  one  of  La  Cal- 
prenede's  romances.  The  main  theme  of  this  famous 
play  is  the  jealousy  between  Roxana,  Alexander's 
first  wife,  and  his  second  wife,  Statira.  In  the  parts 
of  the  rival  queens,  actresses  vied  with  each  other  on 
the  English  boards  for  a  century  and  a  half.  Most  of 
Lee's  theatrical  effectiveness  is  lost  to  the  reader. 
Yet  it  is  by  no  means  wholly  modern  criticism  that 
has  fastened  upon  the  rant  and  extravagance  of  the 
play  for  familiar  illustration  of  the  excesses  of  tragedy 
of  the  period.    'In  what  Raptures,'  wrote  CoUey 


VI  DRYDEN,  LEE,  AND  OTWAY  97 

Gibber/  'have  I  seen  an  Audience  at  the  furious 
Fustian  and  turgid  Rants  in  Nat.  Lee's  Alexander 
the  Great!  For  though  I  can  allow  this  Play  a 
few  great  Beauties,  yet  it  is  not  without  its  extrava- 
gant Blemishes.'  Furthermore,  Gibber  thought  it  a 
greater  proof  of  Betterton's  skill  that  he  succeeded 
in  'the  false  Fire  and  Extravagancies'  of  Alexander 
than  that  he  triumphed  in  any  of  the  Shakespearean 
rdles.  The  extravagance  is,  certainly,  apparent.  A 
good  example  is  the  absurd  account  (Act  IV)  of  how 
Lysimachus  does  battle  with  a  lion,  pulls  out  his  tongue, 
bestrides,  and  kills  him  —  a  feat  which  moves  Alex- 
ander to  pardon  the  'active  Prince'  more  than  'all 
the  Prayers  Of  the  lamenting  Queens.'  In  the  last 
scene,  Alexander,  maddened  by  poison,  mounts  a  chair, 
shouting,  'Bear  me,  Bucephalus,  amongst  the  billows.' 
Amid  the  obvious  extravagances  of  the  play,  however, 
its  merits  have  sometimes  been  undervalued.  Not  all 
the  talk  is  bombast.  Many  lines  are  in  famihar 
quotation :  '  'Tis  Beauty  calls,  and  Glory  shews  the 
way ;'  'When  Greeks  joyn'd  Greeks,  then  was  the  tug 
of  War.'  2  The  attack  of  Glytus  upon  Alexander's 
arrogance  at  the  banquet  (Act  IV)  is  fervent  and 
effective.  There  is  real  as  well  as  'false  fire,'  and 
force  instead  of  farce. 

Mithridates  (1678)  is  in  marked  contrast  to  Racine's 
earUer  play  on  the  same  subject.    Racine  is  simpler 

^  Colley  Gibber's  Apology,  Lowe  edition,  I,  105. 

2  Both  lines  occur  in  Act  IV.  See  1677  quarto,  pp.  53,  48.  The 
lines  beginning  'See  the  conquering  hero  comes'  are  not  Lee's,  but 
were  written  by  Doctor  Morell  for  a  Handel  oratorio,  and  were  later 
interpolated  in  Lee's  play,  in  Act  II. 


98  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

in  plot,  nobler  in  characterization,  and  without 
the  sensational  intrigues  and  accumulated  horrors 
which  Lee  lavished  upon  his  play.  The  appearance, 
in  the  fourth  act,  of  the  ghosts  of  Mithridates's  sons, 
who  'set  Daggers  to  his  Breast  and  vanish,'  and  the  use 
of  spectacular  devices  point  not  across  the  Channel 
to  French  drama,  but  backwards  to  the  Elizabethans. 
Theodosius,  or  the  Force  of  Love  (1680)  deals  with  the 
rivalries  of  brothers  in  love.  Ccesar  Borgia  (1680) 
proceeds  to  its  grim  conclusion  with  the  strangling 
of  the  heroine  on  the  stage,  and  with  the  poisoning  of 
the  rest  of  the  chief  characters.  By  the  irony  of  fate 
MachiaveUi,  the  villain,  is  left  to  pronounce  a  moral 
which  is  singularly  inappropriate  in  his  mouth : 

No  Power  is  safe,  nor  no  Religion  good, 
Whose  Principles  of  Growth  are  laid  in  Blood. 

Lucius  Junius  Brutus^  Father  of  his  Country  (1681), 
met  its  end  on  the  third  night,  when  it  was  suppressed 
on  account  of  supposed  allusions  to  the  vices  of  Charles 
II.  All  these  dramas  are  essentially  blank-verse 
tragedies,  though  Theodosius  freely  admits  rhyme. 
The  Princess  of  Cleve  (1681)  is  described  in  the  dedi- 
cation as  'this  Farce,  Comedy,  Tragedy,  or  meer 
Play.'  'Mere  play'  seems  hardly  epithet  sufficient 
for  this  coarse  offspring  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette's 
French  romance.  Constantine  the  Great  (1684)  and 
The  Massacre  of  Paris  (1690)  revert  to  blank- verse 
tragedy. 

Despite  the  rant  and  fustian  associated  with  Lee's 
name,  there  is  something  more  than  bombast  in  his 
extravagance.    He  is  one  of  the  few  dramatists  of  the 


/ 


VI  DRYDEN,   LEE,   AND   OTWAY  99 

last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  who  had  the 
poetic  touch.  The  insanity  brought  on  by  his  dissolute 
life  pervades  some  of  his  stage  characters.  His 
poet's  eye  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolled,  though  often  there 
is  frenzy  without  poetry.  In  the  midst  of  a  prosaic 
age,  it  is  a  surprise  to  find  embedded  in  conventional 
tragedy  passages  which  reveal  poetic  imagination, 
such  as  that  often  quoted  from  the  last  act  of  (Edipus: 

Thou,  Coward,  yet 
Art  living,  canst  not,  wilt  not,  find  the  Road 
To  the  great  Palace  of  magnificent  Death ; 
Tho'  thousand  ways  lead  to  his  thousand  doors, 
Which  day  and  night  are  still  unbarr'd  for  all. 

Lee  had,  to  take  a  phrase  from  one  of  his  dedications,*  \ 
an  'ungoverned  fancy.'  Force  and  weakness,  pathos 
and  bathos,  poetry  and  rant,  mingle  in  his  uneven 
pages.  The  impure  element  of  insanity  in  his  blood 
overran  into  his  work.  In  him  lived  the  promise  of 
poetry,  but  the  'magnificent  death'  which  his  genius/ 
conceived  brought  him  to  a  dissolute's  grave.  Lea 
touched  the  heights,  but  sank  into  the  depths.  I 

The  dramatic  work  of  Thomas  Otway  (1652-1685)  ' 
began  with  Alcibiades  (1675),  a  conventional  rh)aned 
tragedy.  Don  Carlos  (1676),  based  on  a  theme  from 
a  French  historical  romance,  shows  genuine  dramatic 
ability.  It  won  marked  favour  in  its  own  day,  and 
Gosse  thinks  'we  should  be  justified  in  calling  Don 
Carlos  the  best  English  tragedy  in  rhyme.'  ^  The 
comparative  poverty  of  English  rhymed  plays,   it 

*  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  Theodosius. 
\Sevmteenth'Century  Studies,  p.  279. 


lOO  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

should  be  remembered,  tempers  praise  which  may 
sound  superlative.  Titus  and  Berenice  (1677),  a 
good  version  of  Racine's  Berenice,  and  The  Cheats  of 
Scapin  (1677),  a  version  of  Moliere's  Les  Fourberies 
de  Scapin,  were  followed  by  two  dull  comedies,  Friend- 
ship in  Fashion  (1678), and  The  Soldier^ s  Fortune  (1681, 
or  earlier),^  the  latter  containing  perhaps  some  per- 
sonal touches  drawn  from  the  author's  brief  military 
service  in  Flanders.  The  History  and  Fall  of  Caius 
Marius  (1680),  a  version  of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  roughly 
accentuates  the  element  of  comedy,  but  aggravates 
also  the  tragic  conclusion  by  allowing  Lavinia  to 
awake  in  the  tomb  before  the  death  of  her  Marius. 

Otway's  real  fame  rests  on  his  last  two  tragedies. 
Following  the  fashion  of  Lee  and  Dry  den,  he  now 
adopted  blank  verse.  In  The.Qrphan  (1680),  Castalio 
and  Polydore,  twin  sons  of  Acasto,  fall  in  love  with 
Monimia,  an  orphan  under  Acasto's  guardianship. 
Polydore,  ignorant  of  CastaKo's  secret  marriage  to 
Monimia,  overhears  their  plan  for  what  he  believes 
is  a  guilty  assignation,  and  under  cover  of  night  keeps 
his  brother's  appointment.  The  discovery  of  the 
marriage  leads  Polydore  to  provoke  a  quarrel  in 
which  he  allows  his  brother  to  stab  him.  Castalio, 
on  learning  the  truth,  commits  suicide,  and  Monimia 
takes  poison.  The  action  gains  in  simplicity  and 
intensity  by  being  centred  in  three  main  characters. 
Usually  the  action  is  rapid,  though  Castalio  indulges 
in  some  descriptive  passages,  and  Acasto  in  some 
talk  against  court  flattery  and  h)^ocrisy.  The  plot 
turns  upon  an  act  of  brutality,  but  the  pathos  of  the 

*  A  'Second  Part,'  entitled  The  Atheist^  was  produced  in  1684. 


VI  DRYDEN,   LEE,   AND  OTWAY  lOI 

conclusion  is  indisputable.  The  pdwei't^f:  the, tragedy* 
lies  rather  in  cumulative  force  tliaji  i^i- detached 
passages  of  verse.  As  Moniniia/Mrs."  Sarry  liv'bri'^iif 
great  stage  triumph,  and  even  in  the  reading  of  the 
drama  the  improbabihty  on  which  the  plot  rests  is 
largely  forgotten  in  the  pathos  of  the  last  acts. 
Grief  is  portrayed  with  almost  feminine  tenderness. 
Otway  points  back  to  Elizabethan  tragedy.  Even 
his  diction  seems  reminiscent  of  Shakespeare.^  The 
Orphan  may,  possibly,  be  termed  the  first  domestic 
tragedy  since  EHzabethan  drama.  The  royal  person- 
ages and  impossible  heroes  of  heroic  drama  are 
banished  from  the  boards.  Rank  is  forgotten  in  the 
poignancy  of  human  woe.  In  an  artificial  age,  Otway 
awakens  EUzabethan  echoes. 

Venice  Preserved,  or  a  Plot  Discovered  (1682),  is  one 
of  the  greatest  tragedies  of  modern  English  drama. 
In  its  own  age  possibly  only  Dryden's  All  for  Love  can 
sustain  the  comparison  with  it,  and  it  touches,  in 
the  fourth  act,  perhaps  the  highest  mark  of  Restoration 
tragedy.  The  main  subject,  drawn  from  the  Abbe  de 
St.  ReaFs  account  of  a  Venetian  conspiracy  in  161 8, 
is  unhappily  yoked  to  a  subordinate  theme  which 
reflects  English  politics.  The  doting  buffoon,  Antonio, 
is  Shaftesbury  caricatured.  His  age,  sixty-one,  Ms, 
garrulity  of  speech,  his  desire  to  be  elected  King  of 
Poland,  are  mocked  in  Prologue  and  in  the  play. 
The  comic  scenes  detract  greatly  from  the  merits  of 
the  tragedy,  yet  Taine  curiously  found  them  worthy 

*  The  description  of  the  witch  (II,  i)  recalls  Shakespeare's  method 
in  descriptions  like  that  of  the  *  I  do  remember  an  apothecary'  speech 
in  Romeo  and  Juliet. 


102  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

cxf  praise.^  ArrOtigh  parallel  may  be  suggested  in  the 
comic  -  scenes  of  Mariowe's  Dr.  Faustus,  though  it 
shotiitl'  \}t  s^id  that  modern  stage  revivals  of  Dr. 
Faustus  have  done  much  to  prove  that  even  these 
comic  passages  may  be  made  fairly  effective.  The 
setting  of  the  play,  with  perhaps  an  opening  hint 
of  Othello,  is  picturesque.  The  action,  save  for  the 
intrusion  of  the  comic  scenes,  advances  rapidly,  and 
towards  the  end  almost  breathlessly.  Passion  not 
merely  is  sustained  but  rises  to  greater  heights.  As 
in  The  Orphan,  three  characters  dominate  the  action. 
Pierre,  a  sort  of  Brutus  with  the  high  Roman  courage, 
leads  Jaffier  to  join  the  conspiracy  against  Venice. 
Belvidera,  Jaffier's  wife,  persuades  her  husband  to  save 
her  father  and  the  Senate  by  revealing  the  plot.  The 
action  unfolds  in  masterly  scenes,  where  Pierre  con- 
fronts his  friend  with  his  falseness,  and  where  Jaffier, 
conquered  by  his  wife,  melts  into  love,  and  yields  to 
her  desire  to  save  her  father  and  the  state.  On 
the  scaffold,  Jaffier  is  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  vacilla- 
tion, but  stabs  both  himself  and  Pierre.  The  ap- 
parition  of  the  ghosts  of  Jaffier  and  Pierre  and  Bel- 
videra's  madness  and  death  strongly  suggest  the 
EKzabethans. 

The  secret  of  Otway's  success  is  truth  to  nature. 
The  irresolute  Jaffier,  standing  midway  between  the 
tender  Belvidera  and  the  iron  Pierre,  is  the  centre  of 
dramatic  conffict.  Rant,  bpinbast,  and  exaggeration^ 
—  the  fundamentals  of  heroic  drama  —  give  way  to 
human  emotion.    Pathos  does  not  sink  into  bathos, 

1  History  of  English  Literature,  Edinburgh,  1873-4  edition,  HI, 
39-41. 


VI  DRYDEN,  LEE,   AND  OTWAY  103 

and  if  Otway's  tragedies  end  in  blood,  it  is  wrung 
from  the  human  heart.  The  almost  classical  unity  w- 
of  action  in  Otway's  two  masterpieces  results  less 
from  a  following  of  rules  than  from  a  natural  impulse  to 
centre  the  attention  on  the  chief  characters.  It  is  a 
simplicity  which  recalls  Hawthorne's  handHng  in  the 
novel  of  a  few  great  characters.  The  phrasing  is 
terse  and  lucid ;  the  plot  sweeps  forward  with  resist- 
less force. 

It  is  easy  to  find  Otway's  limitations  and  positive 
faults.  To  evident  poverty  of  comic  genius  must  be 
added  lack  of  high  lyrical  poetry.  The  imagination 
does  not  soar  with  the  Elizabethan  gift  of  song.  Nor 
does  the  breadth  of  his  character  conceptions  equal 
their  depth.  Don  Carlos,  Castalio,  and  JajSier  are  cast 
in  one  mould.  Infatuated  with  woman's  love  they 
stand  irresolute.  The  Queen  in  Don  Carlos,  Monimia, 
and  Belvidera  are  aUke  tender,  sensitive  heroines, 
with  the  feminine  appeal  to  the  sensibiHties.  Otway 
could  not  run  the  whole  gamut  of  human  emotion, 
but  he  touched  a  few  notes  with  the  certainty  of  a 
master  hand.  If  his  tragedies  do  not  inspire  awe, 
they  touch  the  gentler  spring  of  pity.  Sincerity,  . 
natiiralness,  and  artistic,  restraint  —  quahties  rarer 
tEan  ever  in  Restoration  tragedy  —  are  the  foundation  \ 
of  Otway's  dramatic  genius. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA 

The  main  currents  of  Restoration  drama  have  thus 
far  been  noted  chiefly  in  the  work  of  its  leading  writers. 
Yet  it  is  wholly  unsafe  to  disregard  the  lesser  and  some- 
times contrary  currents  of  minor  drama.  The  sea  of 
dramatic  forces  cannot,  in  any  case,  be  charted 
with  entire  precision,  but  it  is  especially  dangerous  to 
base  calculations  simply  upon  the  major  turns  of  the 
tide.  The  convenient  grouping  of  the  comedies  of 
Etherege,  Wycherley,  and  Shadwell,  in  distinction 
from  the  tragedies  of  Dryden,  Lee,  and  Otway,  should 
not  lead  to  the  facile  assumption  that  Restoration 
drama  can  arbitrarily  be  separated  into  distinct  schools 
of  comedy  and  tragedy.  With  the  exception  of  Dry- 
den, the  leading  dramatists  seem,  perhaps,  to  conform 
roughly  to  such  classification.  Yet  Ether ege's  comedy 
shows,  at  least  in  one  instance,  the  influence  of  heroic 
drama ;  heroic  tragedy  often  adopts  a  happy  issue  out 
of  its  affictions,  and  tragi-comedy  violates  the  classi- 
cal distinctions  between  comedy  and  tragedy.  Even 
disregarding  opera,  with  its  complex  and  varying 
relations  to  heroic  drama,  to  comedy,  and  to  the 
masque,  the  more  regular  drama  often  oversteps 
precise  limits.  Especially  should  the  irregularities 
and  inconsistencies  of  many  minor  dramatists  be  a 
warning  against  rigid  lines  of  division.    During  the 

104 


CHAP.vn  ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA  105 

height  of  rhymed  heroic  tragedy,  Crowne  wrote  a 
tragi-comedy  largely  in  blank  verse,  and,  long  after 
the  general  adoption  of  blank  verse,  he  reverted  to 
rhymed  heroic  tragedy.  Howard,  though  advocating 
blank  verse  in  his  dispute  with  Dryden,  used  rhyme 
to  a  considerable  extent.  Even  brief  study  of  the 
lesser  products  of  Restoration  drama  will  show  that 
convenient  generaHzations  must  not  be  mistaken  for 
fixed  laws  governing  dramatic  development. 

The  terms  *  major'  and  ^  minor'  are  here  applied  to 
Restoration  drama  primarily  for  convenience.  The 
objection  already  urged  against  rigid  separation  of 
tragic  and  comic  dramas  would  apply  with  at  least 
equal  force  to  arbitrary  distinctions  between  drama- 
tists whose  importance  varies  greatly  according  to 
the  critic's  point  of  view.  D'Avenant,  for  example, 
has  historical  significance  wholly  out  of  proportion 
with  his  literary  achievement.  Shad  well,  whose 
comedies  it  has  been  convenient  to  discuss  in  con- 
nection with  those  of  Etherege  and  Wycherley,  might 
well  be  classed  with  lesser  dramatists.  With  no  in- 
tention, then,  to  insist  dogmatically  on  precise  classi- 
fication of  individual  playwrights,  and  with  no  desire 
to  essay  the  impossible  task  of  presenting  an  all- 
inclusive  estimate  of  the  dramatic  output  of  the  period, 
attention  will  be  directed  in  this  chapter  to  some 
aspects  of  that  mass  of  dramatic  writings  which,  in 
the  main,  gave  bulk  rather  than  distinction  to  Res- 
toration drama.  So  continuous  is  this  dramatic 
output,  that  it  is  difficult  to  set  even  a  general 
chronological  limit  to  the  plays  that  might  here  be 
considered.    Roughly  speaking,  however,  the  Revolu- 


lo6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

tion  of  1688  may  be  adopted  as  a  more  or  less  elastic 
limit.  If  only  the  more  prominent  dramatists  were  to 
be  included,  there  would  be  Httle  difficulty  in  adopting 
definitely  the  division  suggested  by  Edmund  Gosse.^ 
He  distinguishes  clearly  between  the  earlier  group 
of  dramatists,  such  as  Crowne,  Mrs.  Behn,  Wycherley, 
Lacy,  Settle,  Otway,  and  Lee,  for  whom  he  reserves  the 
name  of  Restoration  dramatists,  and  a  later  group, 
including  Congreve,  Gibber,  Vanbrugh,  Farquhar, 
and  Rowe,  whom  he  entitles  the  'Orange  dramatists.' 
It  is  true,  indeed,  as  he  points  out,  that  the  later 
writers  are  not  connected  with  the  reign  of  Gharles 
II,  but  this  is  no  more  insuperable  obstacle  to  their 
inclusion  as  'Restoration  dramatists'  than  is  the 
death  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  frequent  extension  of 
the  term  'EHzabethan'  to  the  later  work  of  Shake- 
speare and  his  successors.  Thus  Leigh  Himt  was 
warranted  in  grouping,  in  his  well-known  edition, 
the  comedies  of  Wycherley,  Gongreve,  Vanbrugh, 
and  Farquhar,  for  not  even  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  marks  the  full  conclusion  of  the  dramatic 
period  ushered  in  by  the  Restoration.  Furthermore, 
the  apparent  gap  between  the  two  groups  of  major 
dramatists  is  somewhat  bridged  by  the  work  of  minor 
playwrights.^  In  the  last  analysis,  the  division  lines 
between  dramatic  periods  and  the  nomenclature 
adopted  must  remain  largely  arbitrary,  a  matter  of 

*  Seventeenth-Century  Studies^  pp.  270-271. 

2  Mr.  Gosse's  statement  that,  after  the  adveat  of  the  dramatists 
whose  first  plays  fall  between  1670  and  1675,  'twenty  years  passed 
quieitly  on  without  a  single  new  writer,  except  Southeme,'  seems  to 
neglect  so  popular  a  dramatist  as  John  Banks. 


vn     ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA       107 

personal  preference  rather  than  for  conclusive  argu- 
ment. In  this  work,  the  term  'Restoration  drama' 
will  include  both  of  Mr.  Gosse's  groups,  but  the  present 
chapter  will  in  the  main  discuss  playwrights  the  bulk 
of  whose  work  precedes  the  Revolution  of  1688. 

The  widely  divergent  plays  that  may  be  grouped 
imder  the  head  of  pastorals  illustrate  the  difficulties 
of  applying  to  minor  Restoration  drama  absolute 
distinctions  between  comedy  and  tragedy.  The  very 
disagreements  as  to  the  acceptance  of  particular 
plays  as  pastorals  are  an  index  of  their  complex 
dramatic  elements.  For  the  most  part  these  plays 
have  kinship  with  heroic  drama  and  romance,  with 
comedy,  and  sometimes  with  rough  farce,  and  with 
the  masque.  Their  nondescript  character  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  one  of  the  first  three  items  in  a 
suggestive  Hst  of  Restoration  pastorals^  is  described  on 
the  title-page  as  'A  Comical  History,'  and  the  others  as 
*  tragi- comedies,'  while  Crowne's  Calisto  (1675)  is 
*The  Late  Masque  at  Court.'  The  Thracian  Wonder, 
though  printed  in  166 1,  belongs,  as  its  usual  ascription 
to  Webster  and  Rowley  would  imply,  to  an  earlier 
dramatic  period.  Yet  its  publication  so  soon  after 
the  reopening  of  the  theatres  is  another  Unk  between 
Elizabethan  and  Restoration  drama.  Not  even  the 
interregnum  had  broken  the  dramatic  chain,  for 
pastorals  like  Richard  Flecknoe's  Lovers  Dominion 
(printed  1654)  and  Robert  Cox's  Actaeon  and  Diana 
(printed  1656)  had  found  publishers.  Tasso's  Aminta 
and  Guarini's  Pastor  Fido,  two  classic  ItaHan  pastorals 
already  influential  through  Elizabethan  translations, 

^eannette  Marks,  English  Pastoral  Dramas  pp.  179-180. 


Io8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

appeared  in  Restoration  versions.^  The  lyric  impulse 
of  the  Elizabethans  had,  indeed,  passed,  and  the 
charm  of  naturalness  had  been  lost  in  an  artificial 
age.  Simplicity  and  spontaneity,  so  necessary  to  re- 
deem the  pastoral  from  conventionality,  were  miss- 
ing in  Restoration  days,  but  the  earlier  tradition  had 
not  been  wholly  forgotten.  Restoration  dramatic 
pastorals  usually  exhibit  a  blend  of  comic,  tragic,  and 
musical  elements.  The  Thracian  Wonder,  which  bears 
marked  resemblance  to  The  Winter^ s  Tale,  includes 
some  rustic  scenes  and  shepherds'  dances,  mingles 
verse  with  prose,  and  has  heroic  as  well  as  pastoral 
elements.  Thomas  Killigrew's  two-part  Bellamira  in- 
troduces an  *  Arcadian  Nymph'  who  dwells  in  a  cave 
with  her  brother,  and  a  King  and  Prince  who  battle 
with  Spaniards  as  well  as  invade  Arcadia.  Shadwell, 
who  fashioned  The  Royal  Shepherdess  (1669)  from  the 
material  of 'one  Mr.  Fountain  of  Devonshire  .  .  .  en- 
deavour'd  to  carry  on  those  few  Humors,  which  were 
but  begun  by  him ;  and  (to  satisfie  the  Concupiscence, 
as  Mr.  Johnson  calls  it,  of  Jigge  and  Song)  I  designed 
as  fit  occasions  for  them  as  I  could.'  Crowne's 
Calisto,  with  songs  and  music  that  link  the  masque 
with  opera,  has  pastoral  elements  in  its  nymphs  and 
shepherds.  The  Constant  Nymph,  or  The  Rambling 
Shepheard  (1677),  'written  by  a  Person  of  Quality/ 
borrows  from  Sidney's  Arcadia,  and  largely  uses  the 
heroic  couplet  instead  of  the  blank  verse  of  tragedy 
or  the  prose  of  comedy.  At  almost  every  turn  may 
be  noted   divergencies  in   subject,   treatment,   and 

*  Dancer's  translation  of  the  former  in  1660,  Settle's  rendering  o! 
the  latter  in  1677. 


vn     ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA      109 

versification  from  what  may  be  regarded  as  the 
normal  standard,  but  cannot  possibly  be  accepted  as 
the  fixed  practice,  of  Restoration  drama.  Dull, 
monotonous,  vulgar,  and  tawdry,  the  Restoration 
pastoral  usually  is.  It  holds,  doubtless,  the  least 
honoured  position  in  the  dramatic  record  of  the  time, 
yet  some  interest  attaches  to  it  as  proof  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  EHzabethan  dramatic  influences  and  of 
the  complexity  of  dramatic  development  during  the 
Restoration. 

The  dramatic  pastoral  may  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  a  by-product  of  Restoration  drama.  Attention 
should  now  be  directed  to  more  regular  tragic  and 
comic  products  of  minor  Restoration  drama.  Often 
these  lesser  plays  afford  further  illustration  of  prac- 
tices and  tendencies  apparent  in  the  work  of  leading 
dramatists.  Here,  for  example,  may  be  multiplied 
the  proofs  of  Continental  influences  upon  Restoration 
drama,  yet  here  again  is  disproof  of  the  theory  that 
English  drama  became  denationalized.  The  use  of 
Spanish  material,  already  observed  in  early  comedies 
of  Dryden  and  Wycherley,  in  Digby's  adaptations 
from  Calderon,  and  in  Tuke's  Adventures  of  Five 
Hours  (1663),  is  continued  in  Crowne's  Sir  Courtly 
Nice  (1685),  taken  from  Moreto,  and  in  various 
plays  of  Mrs.  Aphra  Behn,  such  as  The  Dutch  Lover 
(1673)  and  The  Rover  (1677),  said  to  reflect,  in  part, 
Spanish  influences.  The  French  romances  of  La 
Calprenede  and  Madeleine  de  Scudery,  which  con- 
tributed to  the  work  of  Dryden  and  Lee,  supplied 
material  for  Lord  Orrery,  Settle,  Mrs.  Behn,  and 
John  Banks.    Translations,  adaptations,  and  borrow- 


no  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

ings  of  varying  importance  from  French  drama  con- 
stantly appear  in  minor  Restoration  drama,  as, 
for  example,  in  the  work  of  Charles  Cotton,  John 
Dancer,  Mrs.  Catharine  Philips  —  the  *  matchless 
Orinda'  —  Sir  Charles  Sedley,  Ravenscroft,  and 
Crowne.  Despite  manifest  and  frequent  debts  to 
foreign  sources,  however,  the  lesser  as  well  as  the 
greater  Restoration  dramatists  abundantly  disprove 
the  assumption  that  English  drama  became  an 
essentially  foreign  product.  Plots,  names,  and 
phrases  were  freely  appropriated  from  Gallic  drama, 
but  external  imitation  did  not  bring  reproduction 
of  the  spirit  and  genius  of  French  drama.  To  the 
influence  of  Corneille  was  added  that  of  Jean  Racine 
(1639-1699).  In  the  decade  following  his  first 
signal  success  in  Andromaque  (1667),  Racine  so  far 
perfected  French  classical  drama  that  English  play- 
wrights began  to  imitate  the  new  master  of  tragedy. 
Yet  his  subtle  analysis  of  character,  his  strength  of 
dramatic  conception,  and  his  noble  diction  seem 
almost  travestied  in  the  conscious  heroics  and  bombast 
of  English  heroic  drama.  The  humanity  of  Moliere  is 
forgotten  in  the  heartless  immorality  of  Restoration 
comedy.  Again  and  again  do  the  lesser  dramatic 
pieces  of  the  English  stage  follow  the  letter  of  Gallic 
example,  not  the  spirit. 

Consideration  of  the  work  of  a  few  individual 
dramatists  will  effectually  disprove  any  theory  of 
rigid  separation  between  comic  and  tragic  writers. 
Sir  Robert  Howard  (1626-1698),  who  collaborated 
with  Dryden  in  The  Indian  Qtteen,  wrote  both 
tragedies  and  comediesTTlis'most  successful  comedy, 


vn    ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA       m 

The  Committee  (1662)/  satirizes  the  underhanded 
methods  of  committees  of  sequestration  of  property 
in  the  later  Commonwealth  period.  Teague,  an 
early  Irish  comic  character,  if  deficient  in  dialect, 
has  Irish  wit  enough  to  '  take  the  Covenant '  by  steal- 
ing a  copy  of  it  from  a  bookseller.  The  Great  Favour- 
ite, or  The  Duke  of  Lerma  (1668),  a  tragedy,  has  'some 
Scenes  in  blank  Verse,  others  in  Rhime,'  despite 
Howard's  protest  against  Dryden's  theory  of  rhyme. 
The  Epilogue  tersely  describes  it  as  *  A  melancholly  Plot 
ty'd  with  strong  Lines.'  Sir  Charles  Sedley  (1639  ?- 
1 701),  whose  rhymed  heroic  tragedy,  Antony  and 
Cleopatra  (1677),  was,  in  Shadwell's  ill-founded  judg- 
ment, the  'only'  tragedy  '(except  two  of  Jonson's 
and  one  of  Shakespear's)  wherein  Romans  are  made 
to  speak  and  do  Hke  Romans,'  ^  produced  three 
comedies.  In  The^  Mulberry  Garden  (1668),  partly 
based  on  Moliere,  Sedley  mingles  prose  with  heroic 
couplets  somewhat  as  did  Etherege  in  The  Comical 
Revenge.  Bellamira,  or  The  Mistress  (1687),  based 
on  the  Eunuchus  of  Terence,  is  a  gross,  but  vigorous, 
satirical  comedy.^  Edward  Ravenscroft  (fl.  1671- 
1697)  whose  assiduous  efforts  were  largely  devoted 
to  unscrupulous  reworking  of  old  veins  of  comic 
ore,  also  adapted  Titus  Andronicus,  and  produced  a 
tragi-comedy  and  a  tragedy.    His  theatrical  successes 


1  The  date  of  its  production  has  often  been  confused  with  diat  of 
its  publication,  1665.  But  Evelyn  witnessed  it  27  November,  1662, 
and  Pepys,  12  June,  1663. 

2  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  A  True  Widow,  1679  quarto. 

^  The  Grumbler  was  not  printed  until  1702.  It  was  acted  in  1754 
as  a  farce. 


112  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

were  largely  due  to  bold  pilferings  from  Moliere, 
and  to  the  farcical  abandon  of  such  a  piece  as  his 
London  Cuckolds  (1682). 

John  Crowne  (d.  1703  ?)  began  a  prohfic  dramatic 
career  with  a  tragi-comedy,  Juliana,  or  The  Princess 
of  Poland  (1671),  chiefly  in  blank  verse,  turned  in  the 
next  year  to  rhymed  historical  tragedy,  and  in  1675 
produced  Andromache,  a  prose  adaptation  of  Racine, 
The  Country  Wit,  a  comedy  partly  drawn  from 
Moliere,  and  Calisto,  a  court  masque.  Among  his 
plays  during  the  next  decade  are  a  heavy  two-part 
heroic  drama,  The  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,  several 
blank-verse  tragedies,  and  a  satirical  comedy,  City 
Politiques.  Sir  Courtly  Nice,  or  It  cannot  Be  (1685) 
marks  the  height  of  his  dramatic  achievement.  The 
titular  hero,  though  reproducing  the  type  of  fop 
already  evident  in  Etherege,  may  be  regarded  as 
Crowne's  best  contribution  to  the  gallery  of  Restora- 
tion comedy  portraits.  Crowne's  later  dramatic 
work  shows  some  tendency  to  revert  to  earlier  dra- 
matic influences,  for  The  Married  Beau  (1694)  is  a 
blank-verse  comedy  which,  in  Dr.  Ward's  judgment, 
*may  be  regarded  as  an  attempt  to  return  to  the 
style  of  Fletcher  and  Shirley,'  ^  and  Caligula  (1698) 
is  a  tragedy  in  rhyme.  Some  of  Crowne's  indifferent 
tragedies  seem  to  have  achieved  their  success  largely 
through  scenic  aids,  while  his  comedies  are  without 
subtlety  of  characterization,  yet  'Httle  starch  Johnny 
Crowne'  achieved  a  respectable  measure  of  stage 
success.  To  the  modern  reader  he  may  serve  as  an  . 
illustration  of  the  blend  of  dramatic  types  and  styles  f 
in  the  work  of  a  single  playwright.  His  dramatic 
»  Ward,  in,  407. 


vn     ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA      113 

reputation  must  rest  almost  wholly  upon  the  creation 
of  a  single  character,  Sir  Courtly  Nice. 

While  many  of  the  lesser  dramatists,  with  more  or 
less  impartiality,  divided  their  efforts  between  tragedy 
and  comedy,  with  not  infrequent  departures  into 
tragi-comedy,  opera,  or  masque,  there  are  those 
whose  names  are  primarily  associated  with  a  single 
dramatic  type.  John  Lacy  (d.  1681),  comedian, 
besides  adapting  comedies  of  Moliere  and  Shake- 
speare, made  original  excursions  into  the  field  of 
comedy.  The  rough  realism  of  The  Old  Troop,  or 
Monsieur  Raggou  (1664?),  his  best  dramatic  effort, 
doubtless  owed  somewhat  to  Lacy's  own  military 
experience  during  the  Civil  War.  Elkanah  Settle 
(1648-17  24),  on  the  other  hand,  takes  his  place  with  the 
heroic  dramatists.  Beginning  tragedy  literally  in 
'Cambyses'  vein'  with  his  youthful  Cambyses,  King 
of  Persia,  he  achieved  a  spectacular  success  in  The 
Empress  of  Morocco  (1671?),^  which  led  to  a  pamphlet 
controversy  against  the  combined  attacks  of  Crowne, 
Dryden,  and  Shadwell.  Ibrahim,  the  Illustrious  Bassa 
(1676),  based  on  Georges  de  Scudery's  play  from  his 
sister's  romance,  sufficiently  answers  the  rhetorical 
question  of  its  Epilogue  as  to  the  deadly  efficacy  of 
heroic  love : 

What  need  of  Siege  and  Conquest  in  a  Play, 
When  Love  can  do  the  work  as  well  as  they  ? 

To  the  *Doeg'  of  Dryden's  satire  still  attaches  the 
unsparing  epithet  ^heroically  mad.' 

*The  first  edition,  1673,  contains  valuable  drawings  which  show 
the  attention  paid  to  scenic  effects. 
I 


114  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

\^  Upon  the  unlucky  head  of  Mrs.  Aphra  Behn  (1640- 
1689)  have  been  visited  many  of  the  sins  which  she 
shared  in  common  with  her  contemporaries.  *The 
chaste  Aphra'  does,  assuredly,  justify  by  her  works 
her  reputation  for  ^ijcamorality.  Yet  perhaps  some- 
thing should  be  forgiven  a  writer  who  produced  in 
V  Oroonoko  a  humanitarian  novel,  and  who  revealed 
beneath  her  licentiousness  in  drama  some  evidences 
of  lively  ingenuity.  Before  turning  to  play  writing 
she  had  an  adventurous  career.  A  barber's  daughter, 
who  had  spent  her  youth  at  Surinam,  she  returned 
to  England  shortly  before  the  Restoration,  married 
a  Dutch  merchant  who  brought  her  into  some  notice 
at  the  court  of  Charles  II,  and  after  his  death  served 
as  a  spy  at  Antwerp,  was  shipwrecked,  and  finally 
returned  to  London,  where  she  supported  herself 
as  a  writer.  Her  dramatic  career  began  in  1671 
with  the  production  of  a  tragi-comedy,  The  Forced 
Marriage,  and  a  coarse  comedy,  The  Amorous  Prince. 
A  single  tragedy,  Abdelazar,  two  later  tragi-comedies, 
and  a  farce  entitled  Emperor  of  the  Moon  (1687),  are 
less  characteristic  than  the  dozen  or  more  comedies 
from  her  proHfic  pen.  Of  these,  perhaps  the  best 
examples  are  The  Rover,  or  The  Banished  Cavaliers 
(1677;  Second  Part,  1681)  and  The  Roundheads 
(1682),  which  reecho  the  militant  notes  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  The  City  Heiress  (1682).  With  the  un- 
scrupulousness   of   her   friend    Ravenscroft,    though 

^  with  more  than  his  ability,  Mrs.  Behn  appropriated 
dramatic  materials  wherever  she  found  them  —  in 
Killigrew,  Brome,  Middleton,  Tatham,  or  Moli^re. 
With  no  more  hesitation  she  stooped  to  conquer  by 


vn     ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA      115 

pandaring  to  the  coarsest  taste.     Yet  her  best  come-< 
dies  have  vivacity  of  action  as  well  as  depravity  of 
speech,  and  some  touches  of  lively,  though  habitu- 
ally gross,  humour. 

Nahum  Tate  (165 2-1 7 15)  merits  perhaps  less  * 
attention  as  a  dramatist  than  as  a  poet.  His  continu- 
ation of  Dryden's  Absalom  and  Achitophel  in  a  second 
part  is  directly  indebted  to  Dryden  for  its  most  notable 
passages,  and  his  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms 
was  effected  in  collaboration  with  Nicholas  Brady, 
but  Shadwell's  successor  to  the  poet  laureateship 
holds  some  place  among  the  minor  poets  of  his  day. 
Tate  had  not  an  independent  or  original  mind. 
He  was  most  at  home  in  collaboration  with  other 
writers,  or  in  imitation  of  their  work.  His  dramatic 
efforts  were  largely  concerned  with  adaptations  from 
Shakespeare,  Chapman,  Fletcher,  and  Webster. 
In  1 68 1  and  1682  he  produced  adaptations  of  Richard 
II,  Coriolanus,  and  King  Lear,  eliminating  the  fool, 
and  allowing  Cordelia  to  marry  Edgar.  Despite 
Addison's  early  protest  in  The  Spectator  (No.  40), 
this  perversion  of  Lear  continued  to  hold  the  stage 
until  almost  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Such  adaptations,  not  merely  of  Shakespeare,  but  of 
other  Ehzabethans,  emphasize  at  least  the  continued 
attention  paid  by  Restoration  playwrights  to  earlier 
English  drama. 

To  the  playwrights  already  mentioned  might 
readily  be  added  a  host  of  mediocrities.  The  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  loyally  pronounced  by  his  Duchess,  who 
shared  his  dramatic  activities,  'the  best  lyric  and 


Il6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dramatic  poet  of  his  age/  ^  Sir  Robert  Stapylton,  ^ 
and  many  others  show  that  the  dramatic  contagion 
touched  rank  and  title.  Edward  and  James  Howard, 
and  'sing-song'  Thomas  D'Urfey  are  perhaps  sufficient 
examples  of  the  prolix  mediocrity  of  writers  who  lacked 
even  the  distinction  of  title.  Sufficient  illustration, 
however,  has  already  been  found  in  minor  Restora- 
tion drama  of  the  continuity  of  English  dramatic 
traditions,  even  during  the  height  of  Continental 
influences,  of  the  constant  inter-relation  between 
different  types  of  dramatic  writing,  and  of  the  union 
in  the  work  of  individual  dramatists  of  both  comic 
and  tragic  impulses. 

Brief  mention  may  be  accorded  to  some  matters 
which,  though  primarily  connected  with  theatrical 
history,  are  not  without  direct  bearing  upon  the  drama 
itself.  The  development  of  scenic  and  musical 
elements,  already  noted  at  some  length  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rise  of  heroic  drama  and  the  opera, 
had  increasing  influence.  The  Prologue  to  Tun- 
hridge-Wells  (1678)  declares  that 

every  Scribler  sends  his  Envoys  out 
To  fetch  from  Paris,  Venice,  or  from  Rome, 
Fantastick  fopperies  to  please  at  home. 
And  that  each  act  may  rise  to  your  desire, 
Devils  and  Witches  must  each  Scene  inspire. 
Wit  rowls  in  Waves,  and  showers  down  in  Fire. 
With  what  strange  Ease  a  Play  may  now  be  writ, 
When  the  best  half's  compos'd  by  painting  it  ? 
And  that  in  th'  Ayr,  or  Dance  lyes  all  the  Wit  ? 

*  Ward,  III,  332,  footnote  3. 

2  Stapylton's  plays  are  The  Slighted  Maid  (1663),  a  comedy,  The 
Step-Mother  (1664),  a  tragi-comedy,  and  Hero  and  Leander  (1669), 
a  tragedy. 


vn    ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA       117 

Dorset  Gardens  Theatre,  opened  in  1671,  devoted 
itself  so  frankly  to  elaborate  scenic  effects  that 
Dryden  found  occasion  to  allude  to  ^  the  gaudy  house 
with  scenes.'^  CoUey  Gibber,  in  his  account  of  the 
Patent  Theatres,  says  that  Sir  Wilham  D'Avenant, 
to  offset  the  success  of  the  King's  Gompany,  *was 
forced  ...  to  introduce  a  new  Species  of  Plays, 
since  call'd  Dramatick  Opera's,  of  which  kind  were 
the  Tempest,  Psyche,  Circe,  and  others,  all  set  off  with 
the  most  expensive  Decorations  of  Scenes  and  Habits, 
with  the  best  Voices  and  Dancers.'  ^  French  actors 
and  'Italian  merry-andrews '  who  *  quite  debauched 
the  stage  with  lewd  grimace'  left  'their  itch  of  novelty 
behind.'  ^  To  such  conditions  the  minor  Restoration 
playwrights  responded  by  increasing  attention  to 
theatrical  rather  than  to  dramatic  effects. 

It  seems  advisable  to  conclude  this  chapter  with 
some  account  of  two  dramatists  who  form  convenient  ^ 
Unks  between  the  earlier  and  later  Restoration  writers 
of  tragedy.  John  Banks  (fl.  1696)  began  a  pro-  \ 
Ufic  career  with  The  Rival  Kings  (1677).^  His  real 
success  came  in  exploiting  the  vein  of  English  his- 
torical tragedy.  The  Unhappy  Favourite  (1682) 
deals  with  the  Earl  of  Essex;  The  Island  Queens^ 
printed  in  1684,  and  produced  as  The  Albion  Queens 
in  1704,  deals  with  EHzabeth  and  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots;  Vertue  Betrayed   (1682),  with   Anne  Boleyn. 

^  *  Prologue  for  the  Women,'  Works,  Scott-Saintsbury  edition,  X, 
317.     See  also  Prologue,  Ihid.,  X,  318-320. 

2  Apology,  Lowe  edition,  I,  94. 

'  Dryden's  *  Epilogue  to  the  University  of  Oxford,  1673,*  WorkSt 
Scott-Saintsbury  edition,  X,  382. 

*  The  date  and  title  suggest  the  influence  of  Lee's  Rival  Queens, 


Il8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

A  later  tragedy,  Cyrus  the  Great,  or  The  Tragedy  of 
Love  (1696),  reverts  more  definitely  to  the  stock 
material  of  heroic  drama  in  basing  its  theme  on 
Madeleine  de  Scudery's  romance.  Despite  an  evident 
prejudice  for  the  Continental  unities  and  the  simpli- 
fication of  scenes  and  characters,  Banks  ranted  in 
'  Cambyses'  vein,'  and  indulged  in  Cyrus  the  Great  in  a 
gruesome  episode  in  which  Panthea  reassembles  on 
the  battlefield  the  disjecta  membra  of  her  dead  lord. 
Banks  won  theatrical,  rather  than  dramatic,  success, 
and  stimulated  interest  without  touching  real 
emotion. 
A  far  more  important  link  between  earlier  and 
yy  later  tragedy  was  Thomas  Southerne  (i  660-1 746). 
Although  one  of  his  comedies  reminded  Dryden  of 
Terence,^  Southerne  is  now  remembered  as  a  writer 
of  tragedy.  The  Loyal  Brother,  or  The  Persian  Prince 
(1682),  is  a  blank- verse  tragedy  with  some  admix- 
ture of  prose.  A  succession  of  comedies  was  followed 
by  two  very  considerable  successes  in  tragedy,  The 
Fatal  Marriage,  or  The  Innocent  Adultery  (1694),  and 
Oroonoko,  or  The  Royal  Slave  (1696),  both  founded 
on  novels  of  Mrs.  Behn.  These  plays  found  con- 
tinued favour  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  former,  in 
Garrick's  version,  Isabella,  or  The  Fatal  Marriage 
(1757)7  the  latter,  in  Hawkesworth's  alteration  in 
1759.  Both  adapters  removed  from  these  works 
the  scenes  of  dull  comedy.  The  Fate  of  Capua  (1700) 
and  The  Spartan  Dame  (1719),  in  which  he  turned 
to  classical  themes,  and    an    unimportant    comedy 

^Dryden's  verses,  'To  Mr.  Southern;  on  his  comedy  called  The 
Wives  Excuse,'  in  1692  quarto  of  The  Wives  Excuse. 


vn     ASPECTS  OF  MINOR  RESTORATION  DRAMA      119 

prolong  Southerne's  dramatic  career  through  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Yet  his  most 
successful  achievement  was  in  the  tragedies  which, 
at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  help  to  bridge 
the  gap  between  the  Restoration  and  the  Augustan 
age.  With  something  of  Otway^s  dramatic  pathos,  i^ 
though  without  his  genius,  Southerne  points  the 
way,  perhaps,  toward  the  sentimental  drama  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  school  which  Richard  Steele 
is  usually  held  to  have  founded  seems  foreshadowed, 
however  unconsciously,  in  the  almost  feminine  appeal 
of  Otway  and  Southerne  to  the  sentiment  of  pity. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR 

The  Revolution  of  1688  is  without  the  immediate 
significance  to  EngHsh  drama  of  the  Restoration  of 
1660.  PoHtical  change  did  not  bring  forthwith 
dramatic  reform.  Yet,  if  the  outward  aspect  of  drama 
responded  but  slowly  to  the  passing  of  the  old  regime, 
its  inner  life  soon  felt  the  stirrings  of  a  new  spirit. 
As  the  license  of  the  earlier  Stuart  Court  gave  way 
to  the  healthier  moral  tone  of  the  reign  of  William 
and  Mary,  a  different  standard  was  set  for  imitation. 
Latent  forces  of  decency  and  moral  restraint,  which 
had  been  obscured  by  the  dazzling  vices  of  royalty 
and  fashion,  now  began  to  reassert  themselves. 
The  very  excesses  of  the  Restoration  brought 
natural  reaction.  If  the  pendulum  had  swung 
during  the  interregnum  to  the  extreme  of  dramatic 
restraint,  it  had  touched  after  the  reopening  of  the 
theatres  the  extreme  of  license.  An  awakening  moral 
sense  could  neither  applaud  nor  condone  the  sins 
of  the  drama.  Disapproval  soon  grew  to  direct 
attack.  In  his  Prefaces  to  Prince  Arthur  (1695)  and 
to  King  Arthur  (1697),^  Sir  Richard  Blackmore  remon- 
strated with  the  excesses  of  recent  dramatists,  and, 
early  in  1698,  George  Meriton  issued  a  pamphlet, 

*  These  two  'heroick  poems'  and  their  separate  prefaces  have 
often  been  confused.  The  later  preface  highly  praises  Congreve's 
Mourning  Bride. 

120 


CHAP.vm  CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   12I 

Immorality,  Dehaiichery,  and  Profa[ne]ness  Exposed, 
Random  attacks,  however,  turned  to  concentrated 
assault  in  Jeremy  Collier's  A  Short  View  of  the  Imr 
morality  J  and  Profaneness  of  the  English  Stage  (1698). 
With  much  of  the  Puritan  spirit  whose  intolerant  ex- 
pression had  brought  disaster  to  William  Prynne,  Col- 
lier set  himself  squarely  against  prevalent  immorality 
in  drama.  It  should  be  said,  at  the  outset,  that  not 
Jeremy  Collier  alone,  but  the  power  of  pubhc  opinion, 
carried  the  day.  Not  in  the  virulence  of  his  invective, 
but  in  the  essential  soundness  of  his  cause,  lay  Col- 
lier's real  strength.  It  was  his  good  fortune  to  voice 
audibly  the  growing  convictions  of  many.  The  soil 
was  ready  for  good  seed.  A  generation  earlier  he 
might  have  raised  the  voice  of  protest  with  no  more 
effect  than  the  blind  poet  who  had  fallen  upon  evil 
days.  Yet  if  Collier  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the 
single-handed  reformer  of  the  stage,  it  is  idle  to  ignore 
the  outspoken,  though  ill-balanced,  energy  with  which 
he  formulated  a  more  or  less  intangible  public  senti- 
ment. To  the  slowly  gathering  force  of  moral  re- 
form he  gave  direct  impetus.  His  definite  challenge 
to  Restoration  dramatists  could  not  be  evaded. 
The  number  and  energy  of  the  replies  evoked  from 
his  adversaries,  and  the  confessions  of  their  leader, 
Dryden,  show  that  he  had  struck  home. 

Before  entering  upon  a  more  detailed  examination 
of  Collier's  work  and  its  effect  upon  the  tone  of 
English  drama,  it  will  be  well  to  resume  the  course 
of  dramatic  history  with  some  account  of  the  later 
dramatists  whose  careers  began  before  the  bursting 
of  the  storm,  and  who  maintained  even  to  the  end 


122  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

much  of  the  earlier  spirit  of  Restoration  drama.  The 
last  decade  of  the  seventeenth  century  marks  the 
advent  of  three  important  writers  in  whose  work 
Restoration  comedy  touches  its  zenith  —  Congreve, 
Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar.  With  a  single  exception, 
Congreve's  plays  preceded  Collier's  attack,  but 
much  of  Vanbrugh's  work  and  all  of  Farquhar's 
followed  it. 

In  an  age  that  prided  itself  on  wit  and  elegance  of 
style,  William  CoNGREVE  (1670-1720)  wasthewitJLifi&t^ 
and  perhaps  most  graceful  writer  of  English  comedy. 
Born  near  Leeds,  schooled  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
Congreve  came  to  London  as  a  law  student,  pub- 
lished a  minor  novel,  contributed  to  a  poetical  trans- 
lation of  Juvenal,  and  at  twenty-three  had  won 
Dryden's  favour  and  general  applause  with  his  first 
comedy.  The  Old  Bachelor  (1693).  Dryden  declared 
that  'he  never  saw  such  a  first  play  in  his  life,  and 
that  the  author  not  being  acquainted  with  the  stage 
or  the  town,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  have  it  miscarry 
for  want  of  a  little  assistance ;  the  stuff  was  rich  in- 
deed, only  the  fashionable  cut  was  wanting.'  ^  This 
assistance  Dryden  himself  helped  to  give,  and 
Southerne,  an  early  sponsor  for  Congreve,  generously 
hailed  him  as  Dryden's  successor.^  In  comparison 
with  Congreve's  later  work.  The  Old  Bachelor  won 
disproportionate  success.  Its  characters  were  largely 
conventional,  yet  even  Captain  Bluffe,  a  cowardly 
blusterer  anticipated  in  the  first  English  comedy, 

1  Gosse,  Life  of  William  Congreve,  pp.  33-34. 

2  See  his  striking  lines  To  Mr.  Congreve,  on  The  Old  Bachelor,  Mer- 
maid edition  of  Congreve,  p.  3. 


viu    CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   123 

Ralph  Roister  Bolster ,  has  a  certain  vividness  and  in- 
dividuality. Fondlewife  recalls  Wycherley's  Pinch- 
wife,  and  Heartwell,  the  *  surly  old  Bachelor,  pre- 
tending to  slight  Women,  secretly  in  love  with 
Silvia,'  has  some  touches  of  Manly,  while  some  of 
the  characters  of  the  underplot  suggest  Jonsonian 
humours.  Yet  if  The  Old  Bachelor  somewhat  lacks 
originaHty  in  characterization,  Bellmour's  words  in 
the  opening  act  might  well  have  been  Congreve's 
own  invocation,  'Wit,  be  my  faculty  !'  It  was  more 
than  a  decade  and  a  half  since  Etherege  had  produced 
The  Man  of  Mode  and  Wycherley  had  taken  a  cynical 
farewell  of  comedy  in  The  Plain  Dealer.  With  a 
style  more  graceful  than  Etherege's  and  wit  more 
sparkling  than  Wycherley's,  Congreve  showed  that 
there  had  appeared  a  new  master  of  comedy. 

Though  far  less  gross  and  brutal  than  Wycherley,  i 
Congreve  Has  a  tone  of  subtle  but  pervasive  im- 
morality which  he  later  strove  vainly  to  dispf6ve. 
In  answer  to  Jeremy  Collier  he  urged  that  the  end 
of  a  play  pointed  the  moral.  Unfortunately  Collier^ 
found  the  real  moral  of  The  Old  Bachelor  in  its  closing 
lines: 

What  rugged  ways  attend  the  noon  of  life ! 
Our  sun  declines,  and  with  what  anxious  strife, 
What  pain  we  tug  that  galling  load,  a  wife  ! 

In  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  prefixed  to  his  next  play, 
The  Double-Dealer  (1693),  Congreve  makes  an  uncon-  u 
vincing  reply  to  the  charge  that  'some  of  the  ladies 

1 A  Defence  of  the  Short  View  .  .  .  Being  a  Reply  to  Mr.  Congreve' s 
Amendments f  6*c.  And  to  the  Vindication  of  the  Author  of  the  Relapse^ 
1699,  p.  19. 


124  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

are  offended'  by  its  immorality.  It  is  fair  to  note, 
however,  that,  in  the  denouement,  C3aithia's  virtue 
escapes  even  Maskwell's  plots  and  is  rewarded  by 
union  with  Mellefont,  Lady  Touchwood  is  driven  off 
by  her  husband  with  an  orthodox  ^Go,  and  thy  own 
infamy  pursue  thee,'  and  Maskwell  is  seized  and  held 
for  punishment.  Though  all  is  not  well  that  ends  well, 
the  curtain  no  longer  falls  on  the  dishonoured  husband 
amid  derisive  laughter. 

In  the  Epistle  Dedicatory,  Congreve  claims  origi- 
nality of  plot  and  deliberate  intention  '  to  preserve  the 
three  unities  of  the  drama.'  Yet  the  admirable 
scandal  scene  (III,  3)  recalls  Olivia's  scene  with 
Novel  and  Plausible,^  and  Moliere's  still  earlier  pas- 
sages in  Le  Misanthrope,  while  the  obscure  turns  in 
the  labyrinth  of  plot  are  even  further  complicated  by 
a  network  of  bypaths  and  meanders.  Congreve  has 
perplexity,  not  unity,  of  action.  The  characters  of 
The  Double-Dealer  are  familiar  types  —  Mellefont, 
the  lover.  Careless,  the  confidant,  Maskwell  and 
Lady  Touchwood,  villains.  Lord  Froth  and  Brisk, 
coxcombs.  Lady  Froth,  'a  great  Coquette,'  Lady 
Plyant,  'insolent  to  her  Husband,  and  easy  to  any 
pretender.'  Lady  Plyant 's  sesquipedaUan  words 
possibly  suggest  Mrs.  Malaprop,  but  there  is  Httle 
'mathemacular  demonstration,'  to  borrow  one  of 
her  phrases,  of  Mrs.  Malaprop's  'nice  derangement 
of  epitaphs.'     Even  with  the  aid  of  the  soliloquy,  a  de- 

^  Wycherley,  The  Plain  Dealer  (II,  i).  Y^t  Cynthia  turns  with 
disgust  from  the  gossip  which  OHvia  welcomes.  Cf.  Maria's  and 
Sir  Peter  Teazle's  disgust  with  the  scandal-mongers  in  The  School  for 
Scandal. 


vni   CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   125 

vice  comparatively  infrequent  in  Restoration  comedy, 
though  defended  by  Congreve  in  the  Epistle  Dedi- 
catory, the  devious  ways  of  Maskwell  are  followed  with 
difficulty.  Plot  is  subordinated  to  brilHancy  of  dia-  L 
logue.  The  numerous  technical  defects  in  dramatic 
construction  perhaps  account  for  the  somewhat  in- 
different reception  at  first  accorded  The  Douhle-Dealer, 
but  its  vividness  of  characterization  and  vitaHty  of 
phrase  eventually  established  it  in  a  popularity 
which  lasted  through  the  eighteenth  century. 

Love  for  Love  (1695)  was  the  first  play  produced 
at  the  new  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre,  by  Betterton 
and  the  actors  who  had  revolted  from  the  Patent 
Theatres.  Its  success  was  well  merited,  for  in  it  wit^ 
is  married  to  grace  of  diction.  Valentine,  a  young 
spendthrift  who  is  lucky  in  love,  has  had  many 
successors  in  EngHsh  comedy,  among  them.  Young 
Honeywood  in  Goldsmith's  Good  Natur'd  Man  and 
Charles  Surface.  His  wit  does  not  stop  with  his 
assumption  of  madness.  In  a  way  that  curiously 
recalls  Hamlet,^  he  '  uses  his  folly  like  a  stalking-horse 
and  under  the  presentation  of  that  he  shoots  his  wit.* 
Jeremy,  his  witty  servant,  takes  after  his  master,  as 
do  Sheridan's  Fag  and  David.  Jeremy,  who  *  waited 
upon  a  gentleman  at  Cambridge,'  cites  Epictetus, 
Seneca,  Plato,  and  Diogenes  in  a  single  speech,  as 
readily  as  Fag  alludes  to  Jupiter's  masquerades  in 
love.  The  ceaseless  showers  of  wit  fall  alike  on 
master  and  man.  Sir  Sampson  Legend,  Valentine's 
father,  is  a  vigorous  portrait  of  the  crusty  father. 
Scandal  is  the  famiHar  confidant  of  Restoration 
^  Compare,  e.g.  IV,  2,  with  some  of  Hamlet's  speeches  to  Polonius. 


126  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

comedy,  not  too  busy  to  neglect  his  own  intrigue. 
Foresight,  ^pretending  to  understand  Astrology, 
Palmistry,  Physiognomy,  Omens,  Dreams,  &c,'  though 
in  point  of  fact  not  an  anachronism,  seems  dramati- 
cally a  Jonsonian  character,  out  of  place  amid  Con- 
greve's  beaux  and  belles.  Miss  Prue,  an  admirable 
example  of  the  Restoration  perversion  of  the  ingenuey 
is  essentially  of  the  same  t)^e  as  Wycherley's  Mrs. 
Pinchwife  and  Miss  Hoyden  in  Vanbrugh's  Relapse. 
Miss  Prue  has  some  admirable  scenes  —  one  where 
Tattle  initiates  her  into  the  mystery  of  saying  one 
thing  while  meaning  the  opposite  —  another  with  her 
sailor  suitor  Ben,^  whose  awkward  advances  lead  to  a 
mutual  disagreement  which  anticipates  the  scene 
of  Tony  Lumpkin  and  Miss  Neville.  Comedy  borders 
dangerously  upon  farce  when  Tattle,  thinking  he  is 
wedding  Angelica  in  nun's  disguise,  is  tricked  into 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Frail  —  a  situation  possibly  saved 
by  the  fact  that  the  marriage  takes  place  off  the  stage. 
Congreve's  Dedication  of  the  play  shows  that  he  was 
not  unconscious  of  the  danger  in  its  length,  but  un- 
flagging zest  of  dialogue,  skill  in  characterization, 
and  more  effectiveness  in  plot  construction  than  he 
usually  attained  made  Love  for  Love  an  acting  comedy 
success. 

J  Congreve's  sole  tragedy.  The  Mourning  Bride 
(1697),  has  often  been  viewed  as  a  soHtary  excursion 
into  an  alien  dramatic  field,  and  unrelated  to  his 
comic  work.  Yet  in  the  villainy  and  passion  of  Mask- 
well  and  Lady  Touchwood   may   be   found   strains 

*  Gosse,  Congreve,  p.  76,  calls  Ben  *  the  founder  of  a  long  line  of 
stage-sailors,  of  whom  he  is  the  earliest  specimen.' 


vm    CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   127 

of  tragic  suggestion,  just  as  Wycherley's  Plain  Dealer 
does  not  depart  too  far  from  Le  Misanthrope  to  forget 
entirely  the  grim  aspect  of  misanthropy.  Doubtless 
it  would  be  fantastic  to  exaggerate  in  Wycherley  and 
Congreve  the  sombre  threads  in  the  weave  of  comedy, 
yet  the  latter's  venture  into  the  realm  of  tragedy  is 
perhaps  not  an  extraordinary  and  unheralded  phe- 
nomenon. From  the  modern  standpoint  it  seems  the 
irony  of  fate  that  The  Mourning  Bride  achieved  in  its 
own  day  greater  success  than  Congreve's  comedies. 
It  held  the  boards  through  most  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  the  passage  at  the  end  of  the  first  scene 
of  the  second  act  eHcited  Doctor  Johnson's  famous  eu- 
logy of  it  as  ^the  finest  poetical  passage  he  had  ever 
read '  ^  —  a  dictum  whose  extravagance  has  reacted 
too  severely  against  even  a  reasonable  appraisal 
of  a  fine  passage.  The  customary  modern  ver- 
dict, that  Congreve's  departure  from  comedy  proved 
his  incapacity  for  tragedy,  is  perhaps  testimony  to 
the  change  of  popular  taste  quite  as  much  as  to  the 
author's  lack  of  judgment  in  essaying  an  uncongenial 
task.  Plot  and  characters  are,  indeed,  artificial,  and  ^ 
the  probabilities  are  stretched  almost  j^gyond  the 
limits  of  the  possibilities.  That  its  writing  took  three 
years  suggests^  thatTt  was  a  tragedy  not  born,  but 
made.  Yet  Congreve's  shortcomings  are  those  of  all 
but  a  few  of  the  Restoration  tragic  dramatists.  The  ^ 
Mourning  Bride,  in  fact,  though  written  in  blank 
verse,  resumes  in  many  respects  the  habits  of  heroic 
drama.  It  develops  themes  of  love  and  honour  in 
the  foreign  setting  of  Granada,  and  adopts  a  happy 
^  Boswell's  Life  oj  Dr.  Johnson,  Hill  edition,  II,  85. 


128  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

issue  for  the  heroic  loves  of  the  Princess  Almeria  and 
the  noble  Osmyn.  The  modern  reader  might  prefer 
either  a  full  tragic  solution  or  an  anticipation  of  the 
denouement  by  a  somewhat  lighter  handling  of 
the  earlier  tragic  elements.  The  final  surprise  seems 
rather  a  let-down  than  a  wind-up.  There  has  been  no 
comic  rehef,  and  the  advent  of  Osmyn  at  the  end 
comes  as  a  fortuitous  trick,  not  as  a  logical  dramatic 
climax.  The  plot,  complicated  by  the  motives  of 
'cross  purposes'  and  ^mistaken  identity,'  has,  apart 
from  its  artificiality,  more  coherence  and  vigour  in 
development  than  is  characteristic  of  Congreve's 
comedies. 

Gosse  believes  that  the  blank  verse  'is  the  parent  of 
Thomson's,'  and  that  Congreve's  real  model  is  Milton.^ 
Apart  from  such  possible  bearings  on  the  history  of 
poetry,  Congreve's  verse  is  of  interest  chiefly  in  some 
good,  if  rather  conventional,  Hues,  some  of  which  are 
famiUar  in  quotation.  The  Prologue  sets  a  higher 
standard  than  Congreve  attained  either  in  comedy  or 
in  tragedy: 

To  please  and  move  has  been  our  poet's  theme, 
Art  may  direct,  but  nature  is  his  aim ; 
And  nature  missed,  in  vain  he  boasts  his  art, 
For  only  nature  can  affect  the  heart. 

Congreve  is  a  great  Hterary  artist,  but  without  the 
gift  that  blends  art  with  nature. 
^    The  Dedication  of  The  Mourning  Bride  had  termed 
it  a  *poem  constituted  on  a  moral  whose  end  is  to 
recommend   and   to   encourage   virtue.'    This   high 

*  Congreve,  p.  92. 


vm   CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   129 

purpose  did  not  shield  Congreve  from  ColKer's  de- 
termined attack  in  the  following  year,  nor  did  that 
attack  deter  the  dramatist  from  one  further  venture  in 
comedy.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  The  Way  of  c 
the  World  (1700)  contained  Congreve's  most^l^iriJliant 
character  creation,  it  met  with  a  reception  so  luke- 
warm that  the  author  was  somewhat  piqued.  'But 
little  of  it,'  he  writes  in  his  Dedication,  'was  prepared 
for  that  general  taste  which  seems  now  to  be  predomi- 
nant in  the  palates  of  our  audiences.'  Even  Steele, 
in  his  Commendatory  Verses,  admits  that  it  was 
caviare  to  the  general  by  asking : 

How  could,  great  author,  your  aspiring  mind 
Dare  to  write  only  to  the  few  refined  ? 

Congreve's  Dedication  voices  a  deliberate  intention 
to  depict  not  the  gross  fools  'which  are  meant  to  be 
ridiculed  in  most  of  our  comedies'  but^^somejcharac- 
ters  which  should  appear  ridiculous,  not  so  much 
through  a  natural  folly  (which  is  incorrigible,  and 
therefore  not  proper  for  the  stage)  as  through  an 
affected  wit ;  a  wit,  which  at  the  sameJ;ime^ihat  it  is 
affected,  is  also  false.'  With  evident  pique  at  critics 
who  faile3*To"note  such  subtleties,  Congreve  added 
that  'this  play  had  been  acted  two  or  three  days, 
before  some  of  these  hasty  judges  could  find  the  leisure 
to  distinguish  betwixt  the  character  of  a  Wltwoud 
and  a  Truewit.'  In  a  letter  to  Dennis,^  Congreve 
had  defined  'humour'  as  'A  singular  and  unavoidable 
Manner  of  doing  or  saying  any  thing,  pecuHar  and 

*  10  July,  1695,  'Concerning  Humour  in  Comedy,'  The  Select  Works 
oj  Mr.  John  Dennis,  1718,  II,  514-525. 


130  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

natural  to  one  Man  only ;  by  which  his  Speech  and 
Actions  are  distinguish^  from  those  of  other  Men/ 
and  had  declared  that  ^Humour  is  from  Nature, 
Habit  from  Custom,  and  Affectation  from  Industry.' 
He  had  further  asserted :  '  The  saying  of  humorous 
things  does  not  distinguish  Characters;  for  every 
Person  in  a  Comedy  may  be  allow' d  to  speak  them. 
From  a  witty  Man  they  are  expected;  and  even  a 
Fool  may  be  permitted  to  stumble  on  'em  by  chance. 
Tho  I  make  a  difference  betwixt  Wit  and  Humour; 
yet  I  do  not  think  that  humorous  characters  exclude 
Wit :  No,  but  the  Manner  of  Wit,  should  be  adapted 
to  the  Humour.^  Yet  Congreve's  own  weakness  lay 
in  his  inability  to  adapt  his  own  wit  to  the  various 
characters  he  should  have  differentiated.  His  'fools' 
are  permitted  to  stumble  on  too  many  brilHants. 
His  diamond  beds  are  without  sand.  Even  in  The 
Way  of  the  World,  ^^gMe,  the  maid,  like  Congreve's 
earlier  servants,  hasj:he  wit  of  her  betters.  The 
unconscious  humour  of  GoISsmTEIfsTJrggory  is  closer 
to  life  than  the  brilHant  quips  of  Congreve's  servants. 
It  is  small  wonder  that  critics  overlooked  a  theoretical 
distinction  that  seemed  without  a  difference  in 
practice. 

Yet  if,  in  Dryden's  words,  The  Way  of  the  World 
'had  but  moderate  success,  though  it  deserves  much 
better,'  ^  the  judgment  of  posterity  has  gone  far  to 
correct  the  error.  j^yyi^arng,;^j  Congreve's  most  brill- 
iant character  creation,  has  commanded  HazUtt's 
eulogy 2  and  George  Meredith's  tribute  to  the  'perfect 

*  Letter  to  Mrs.  Steward,  12  March,  1700.  Quoted  by  Ward,  III, 
475. 

'  Lectures  on  the  English  Comic  Writers^  Lecture  IV,  pp.  139-142. 


VIII         CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,   AND   FARQUHAR      131 

portrait  of  a  coquette.'  ^  They  had  been  anticipated, 
however,  by  an  earHer  critic,  her  lover  Mirabel:  *I 
like  her  with  all  her  faults;  nay,  like  her  for  her 
faults.  Her  foUies  are  so  natural,  or  so  artful,  that 
they  become  her;  and  those  affectations  which  in 
another  woman  would  be  odious,  serve  but  to  make 
her  more  agreeable'  (I,  2).  She  enters  with  a  flash, 
and  goes  off  in  a  blaze  of  wit.  Even  amid  the  cease- 
less pyrotechnics  of  Congreve  her  departure  seems 
Uke  the  extinction  of  a  briUiant  rocket.  Yet  Milla- 
mant  is  an  artificial  creation  —  beautiful  and  fragile 
as  Dresden  china.  She  has  the  wit,  but  not  the  /  V 
humanity,  of  Shakespeare's  Beatrice.  ' 

Congreve' s  wit  is  his  supreme  strength  and  perhaps  < 
his  greatest  weakness.  It  led  him  to  sacrifice  not 
merely  naturalness  in  character  and  dialogue,  but  effec- 
tiveness of  plot.  In  his  comedies  the  action  usually 
halts  while  the  train  of  wit  passes  gaily  by.  Sheridan, 
'^with  greater  dramatic  art,  showed  that  brilliant  wit 
need  not  clog  the  movement  of  plot,  for  even  the 
scandal  scenes  which  have  at  times  been  instanced 
to  the  contrary  have  some  justification,  apart  from 
their  briUiancy,  as  a  necessary  background  for  Lady 
Teazle.  Yet  it  would  be  unfair  to  judge  Congreve 
chiefly  by  his  defects.  To  supreme  wit  he  added  ^ 
grace  of  diction.  He  has  the  ease  of  Addison.  He  is 
a  sort  of  avant-courier  of  eighteenth-century  felicity 
of  phrase  and  dehcacy  of  diction.  Hazlitt's  eulogy,  if 
somewhat  superlative  in  expression,  is  sound  in  es- 
sence :    '  His  style  is  inimitable,  nay  perfect.     It  is 

^  An  Essay  on  Comedy,  Constable  edition,  1897,  p.  35.    See  also  pp. 
39-42, 


132  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

the  highest  model  of  comic  dialogue.  Every  sentence 
is  replete  with  sense  and  satire,  conveyed  in  the  most 
polished  and  pointed  terms.  Every  page  presents 
a  shower  of  brilHant  conceits,  is  a  tissue  of  epigrams  in 
prose,  is  a  new  triumph  of  wit,  a  new  conquest  over 
dulness.'  In  the  record  of  English  comedy  Congreve 
holds  a  foremost  place.  His  early  work,  especially 
The  Old  Bachelor  J  shows  the  influence,  without  the 
>  malignant  bitterness,  of  Wycherley.  In  comic  spirit 
he  seems  rather  the  descendant  of  Etherege  and  the 
ancestor  of  Sheridan.  With  Etherege's  weakness  in 
plot,  he  has  greater  ease  of  dialogue ;  in  brilliancy  and 
ceaseless  wit,  he  vies  with  Sheridan.  In  his  hands 
the  comedy  of  society  is  touched  with  rare  literary 
skill.     It  is  artificial  comedy,  but  the  art  is  masterly. 

_X?  If,  in  a  general  sense,  Congreve  is  a  follower  of  Ethe-   . 

^^rege,  Wycherley's  successor  is  Sir  John  Vanbrugh  (^ 
(1664-17 26).  After  some  early  architectural  training  , 
in  France  and  experience  in  the  army  which  culminated 
in  his  seizure  at  Calais  and  imprisonment  in  the 
Bastille  as  a  suspected  spy,  Vanbrugh  settled  down  to 
the  life  of  a  dramatist  and  an  architect.  The  combi- 
nation of  professions  once  came  near  to  causing 
personal  disaster.  From  CoUey  Cibber's  account^  of 
the  opening  of  the  Haymarket  Theatre,  in  1705,  it 
appears  that  Vanbrugh  almost  wrecked  his  own  play, 
The  Confederacy,  through  the  wretched  acoustics  of  the 
theatre  in  which  he  had  sacrificed  too  much  to  spacious- 
ness of  dome  and  splendour  of  construction.  Flemish 
in  descent,  Vanbrugh  had  a  taste  for  the  massive  in 
architecture,  to  which  his  mock  epitaph  bore  witness  : 
^  Apology,  Lowe  edition,  I,  319  ff . 


vm   CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   133 

Lie  heavy  on  him,  Earth!  for  he 
Laid  many  heavy  loads  on  thee!  ^ 

In  character  painting,  too,  he  shows  at  times  a 
certain  Flemish  heaviness,  a  following  of  the  'fleshly 
school'  of  Rubens.  Whether  Swift  was  right  in 
satirizing  some  of  Vanbrugh's  efforts  in  architecture, 
or  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  was  justified  in  praising  the 
picturesque  effect  of  Blenheim,  which  Vanbrugh 
built  for  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  is,  from  the 
present  standpoint,  of  less  moment  than  the  fact  that 
his  prominence  as  an  architect  enforced  his  notoriety 
as  a  dramatist. 

Vanbrugh's  dramatic  fame  rests  chiefly  upon  three 
comedies  —  his  first,  TheRelapse,  or  Virtue  in  Danger 
(Dec.  1696),  The  Pjrpygk'd  Wife  (1697),  and  TheCjQJ^- 
federacy  (1705).  Of  his  minor  pieces,  jEsop  (1697) 
is  a  free  translation  of  a  French  comedy  by  Boursault, 
The  Pilgrim  (1700),  an  adaptation  from  Fletcher, 
The  False  Friend  (1702),  from  Le  Sage's  version  of  a 
Spanish  comedy,  The  Country  House  (1705),  from 
one  of  Dancourt's  farces,  and  The  Mistake  (1705), 
from  Moliere's  Le  Depit  Amour eux.  A  Journey  to 
London  is  an  unfinished  comedy,  completed  by 
CoUey  Gibber  as  The  Provoked  Husband.  The  chief 
interest  of  most  of  these  minor  pieces  lies  in  the  illus- 
tration of  Vanbrugh's  variety  of  materials. 

The  success  of  CoUey  Gibber's  uninspired,  but  well- 
constructed  and  well-acted,  comedy,  Lovers  Last 
Shift,  or  The  Fool  in  Fashion,  suggested  a  sequel. 
Written  in  six  weeks,  The  Relapse  was  presented  to 

*  On  Sir  J.  Vanbrugh  ;  an  epigrammatical  epitaph  [by  Dr.  Evans]. 
In  John  Nichols's  Select  Collection  of  Poems,  1780-82,  III,  161. 


134  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

the  Drury  Lane  management  in  April,  1696,  and 
produced  in  December.  Vanbrugh  took  three  charac- 
ters from  Gibber  —  Loveless,  the  hbertine,  Amanda, 
the  virtuous  spouse,  and  Sir  Novelty  Fashion,  who 
becomes  Lord  Foppington.  Gibber,  the  first  Sir 
Novelty  Fashion,  and  the  actors  who  had  appeared 
as  Loveless  and  Amanda,  continued  their  original 
successes  in  Vanbrugh's  sequel.  The  comparison 
between  Gibber  and  Vanbrugh  centres  in  the  figures 
of  Sir  Novelty  Fashion  and  Lord  Foppington.  From 
Gibber,  Vanbrugh  has  taken  the  general  idea  of  the 
fop  and  some  specific  touches.  Li  Gibber,  Sir  Novelty 
is  described  as  'one  that  Heaven  intended  for  a  Man ; 
but  the  whole  business  of  his  Life  is,  to  make  the  World 
believe,  he  is  of  another  Species '  (Act  I) .  Gibber's 
character  amuses  for  the  moment;  Vanbrugh's  has 
permanent  vitaHty.  Hazlitt,^  who  regards  Lord  Fop- 
pington as  a  'copy  from  Etherege's  Sir  Fopling 
Flutter,'  thinks  that  'perhaps,  Sir  Fopling  is  the  more 
natural  grotesque  of  the  two,'  but  he  does  not  fail  to 
regard  Lord  Foppington  as  'a  most  splendid  carica- 
ture.' Dr.  Ward  ^  remarks,  '  Lord  Foppington  I  am 
inclined  to  pronounce  the  best  fop  ever  brought  on  the 
stage — unsurpassed  and  unsurpassable,  and  admirable 
from  first  to  last.' 

In  The  Relapse  virtue,  in  the  person  of  Amanda, 
triumphs.  Yet,  as  the  sub-title  of  the  play  impKes, 
virtue  is  very  much  in  danger.  Furthermore,  though 
Amanda  resists  temptation.  Loveless  prosecutes  his 
intrigue  with  Berinthia  to  its  relentless  end.     Gom- 

*  Lectures  on  the  English  Comic  Writers j  pp.  157-158. 
«  Ward,  III,  479. 


vm    CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   135 

pared  with  Wycherley,  Vanbrugh's  immorality  seems 
less  black,  because  it  is  gayer  and  less  cynical.  He 
seems,  for  the  most  part,  to  have  the  buoyancy  of  ani- 
mal spirits  rather  than  the  brutality  of  animal  passions. 
Yet  in  The  Provoked  Wife,  Sir  John  Brute  does  not 
belie  his  name.  He  is  of  the  beef-and-beer  school,  an 
alehouse  brawler,  with  a  bully's  cowardice.  Like 
Sir  Tunbelly  Clumsey  in  The  Relapse,  he  shows  Van- 
brugh's  heavy  Flemish  touch.  Constant  and  Heart- 
free  are  the  usual  pair  of  friends,  Rasor  and  Mademoi- 
selle the  clever  valet  and  maid.  Lady  Brute  and 
Belinda  are  the  confidantes.  Yet  these  are  not  hfe- 
less  reproductions  of  stock  characters,  but  vitalized 
individuals.  The  Confederacy,  largely  taken  from 
Dancourt's  Les  Bourgeoises  a  la  Mode,  shows  much 
skill  in  plot  construction.  The  way  in  which  the 
plot  is  made  to  turn  on  the  possession  of  a  necklace 
recalls  somewhat  Goldsmith's  later  handHng  of  Miss 
Neville's  jewels  in  She  Stoops  to  Conquer.  Despite 
marked  obligations  to  its  French  original,  Vanbrugh's 
play  has  individuality.  Dick  Amlet  and  his  mother 
and  Brass  are  vigorous  character  creations. 

Unlike  Etherege  and  Congreve,  Vanbrugh  excels 
in  dramatic  construction.  The  Relapse  is  doubtless 
too  long,  and  Sheridan,  who  revised  the  play  under 
the  title  of  A  Trip  to  Scarborough,  though  he  sacrificed 
some  of  the  pristine  vigour  of  his  original,  improved 
the  plot  by  considerable  cuts  and  some  rearrange- 
ment, especially  in  the  last  part.  But,  for  the  most 
part,  Vanbrugh's  plots,  like  Wycherley's,  though  often 
borrowed,  are  skilfully  built,  easily  followed,  and  pro- 
ductive of  excellent  stage  situations.    The  effective- 


136  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

ness  of  plot  is  enhanced  by  distinctness  of  character 
drawing.  Sometimes,  indeed,  he  outlines  his  sketches 
so  heavily  that  they  approach  caricature,  as  in  Lady 
Fancyful,  the  female  fop  in  The  Provok'd  Wife. 
His  portrait  of  Lord  Foppington  merits  the  place  of 
honour,  yet  many  of  Vanbrugh's  other  pictures  deserve 
to  be  hung  on  the  line.  Young  Fashion,  the  gallant, 
Sir  Tunbelly  Clumsey,  the  country  gentleman,  Flip- 
panta,  the  soubrette  maid.  Miss  Hoyden,  the  romp- 
ing ingenue,  Amanda,  the  virtuous  wife,  Berinthia, 
the  reckless  widow,  Sir  John  Brute,  the  sottish  squire, 
Rasor,  the  clever  valet  —  these,  and  others,  show 
Vanbrugh's  power  of  touching  the  stock  characters 
of  the  comedy  of  his  day  with  vigour  and  vitaHty. 

Without  the  epigrammatic  skill  of  Congreve,  Van- 
brugh  has  admirable  ease  and  fluency  of  style.  CoUey 
Gibber,  who  acted  several  of  the  strongest  parts,  con- 
firms by  his  own  testimony  what  he  records  as  the  gen- 
eral observation  of  'all  the  Actors  of  my  Time,  that 
the  Style  of  no  Author  whatsoever  gave  their  Memory 
less  trouble  than  that  of  Sir  John  Vanbrugh,'  and  that 
'his  Wit  and  Humour  was  so  Httle  laboured,  that  his 
most  entertaining  Scenes  seem'd  to  be  no  more  than 
his  common  Conversation  committed  to  Paper.'  ^ 
In  his  best  work,  well-rounded  strength  in  plot,  char- 
acter, and  dialogue,  deservedly  won  signal  success  in 
comedy.  ^;^) 

George  Farquhar  (1678-1707)  brought  to  English 
comedy  an  endowment  of  native  Irish  wit,  good- 
humour,  and  originality.  Of  Londonderry  birth,  a 
sizar  at  Trinity  GoUege,  Dublin,  and  then  an  actor  on 
1  Apology,  Lowe  edition,  I,  219. 


VIII    CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   137 

the  Dublin  stage,  he  was  brought  by  Wilks  to  Lon- 
don. His  first  play,  Love  and  a  Bottle,  appeared  when  , 
he  was  perhaps  twenty.^  A  commission  in  the  army 
and  a  visit  to  Holland  with  his  regiment  gave  him 
military  experience  on  which  he  drew  in  his  later 
comedies.  It  was  Farquhar  who  discovered  the  six- 
teen-year-old niece  of  the  hostess  of  the  Mitre 
Tavern  reading  behind  the  bar  one  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  plays,  interested  Vanbrugh  in  her,  and 
through  him  brought  to  Christopher  Rich  the  actress 
who  was  to  become  famous  as  Nance  Oldfield.  Far- 
quhar's  second  play,  ThejConstant  Couple,  or  A  Trip 
to  the  Jubilee  (1699),  was  a  highly  successful  comedy.  ^ 
Its  hero  lent  his  name  to  a  sequel.  Sir  Harry  Wildair 
(1701),  which  increased  the  popularity  of  Farquhar 's 
dramatic  portrait  of  a  gentleman  ^  newly  come  from 
Paris,'  endowed  with  'gaiety  of  humour.' ^  The  In-*. 
constant,  or  The  Way  to  Win  Him  (1702)  was  taken 
from  Fletcher's  The  Wild  Goose  Chase.  The  Twin- 
Rivals  (1702)  contains  a  humpback  villain  and  a 
rather  amusing  Irish  servant,  Teague.  The  Recruit-< 
ing  Officer  (1706),  animated  by  Farquhar's  own  mili- 
tary experience,  enlarges  the  bounds  of  comedy  that 
had  hitherto  been  too  closely  confined  to  city  limits 
and  the  gallantries  of  its  fops.  The  vigorous  charac- 
ters of  Sergeant  Kite  and  Captain  Plume  have  the 
rough  freedom  of  a  coun try  atmosphere. 

The  Beaux'  Stratagem  (i  707)  shows  both  the  tradi-  <• 
tions  of  Restoration  comedy  and  the  advent  of  new 

1  Genest  dates  it  1699,  but  the  first  edition,  dated  1699,  actually- 
appeared  in  December,  1698. 
'  The  Constant  Couple,  I,  i. 


138  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chas. 

tendencies.  Here  are  present  in  full  force  the  familiar 
flings  of  the  beau  monde  at  the  country,  and  yet 
something  of  real  country  atmosphere ;  French  char- 
acters and  phrases/  and  yet  a  hearty  English  element ; 
much  of  the  immorality  of  earher  comedy,  with  some 
of  the  later  improvement  in  moral  tone.  Though 
Squire  and  Mrs.  Sullen  separate  at  the  end  with  scant 
regard  for~the  marriage  tie,  Farquhar  does  not  scoff 
at  virtue  and  exalt  vice  in  Wycherley's  fashion.  The 
seeming  intrigue  between  Mrs.  Sullen  and  Count 
Bellair  is  only  her  scheme  to  solve  her  matrimonial 
troubles.  Instead  of  trying  to  deceive  her  husband, 
she  has  him  brought  to  her  rendezvous  with  the 
Count.  As  the  Count  says,  when  Mrs.  Sullen  shows 
him  that  she  has  not  taken  his  advances  seriously: 
'Begar,  madam,  your  virtue  be  vera  great,  but  gar- 
zoon,  your  honeste  be  vera  little '  (III,  3). 

The  dialogue  is  bright,  witty,  and  vigorous.  Mrs. 
Sullen,  who  epitomizes  her  husband  as  'a  sullen,  silent 
sot^  breaks  out  with  these  words:  'Since  a  woman, 
must  wear  chains,  I  would  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
'em  rattle  a  Httle'  (II,  i).  Archer  and  Cherry  have 
some  excellent  passages.^  Though  Mrs.  SuUen's  long 
speeches  (II,  i)  voice  the  usual  contempt  of  the  town 
for  the  country,  the  play  has  genuine  country  atmos- 
phere. The  countrywoman  who  comes  to  Lady 
Bountiful  to  have  her  husband's  leg  cured  is  given, 
in  fact,  some  dialectic  forms  of  speech  —  'mail'  for 
'mile,'  and  'graips'  for  '  gripes  '  (IV,  i).    Scenes  with 

*  Besides  Count  Bellair,  there  is  Foigard,  an  Irishman  who  tries 
to  make  his  speech  pass  for  French. 

'  End  of  I,  I,  and  of  II,  3,  with  Archer's  catechism  of  love. 


vm   CONGREVE,  VANBRUGH,  AND  FARQUHAR   139 

the  landlord,  the  tavern  maid,  and  the  highwaymen 
come  as  a  relief  from  the  ceaseless  intrigues  of  fash- 
ionable London. 

The  plot  construction  is  highly  ingenious,  especially  v 
in  the  very  effective  last  act.  Archer  —  whose  name 
is  sufficiently  explained  by  Boniface's  words  (II,  3), 
'You're  very  arch'  —  justifies  his  name  by  replacing 
the  French  Count  at  the  rendezvous,  and  obtains 
entrance  to  Mrs.  Sullen's  chamber.  This  leads  to  a 
situation  famiUar  in  Restoration  comedy  in  such 
scenes  as  Vanbrugh's,  where  Loveless  carries  off 
Berinthia  {The  Relapse,  IV,  3),  and  Farquhar's  own 
scene  in  his  Love  and  a  Bottle,  where  Roebuck  invades 
Lucinda's  chamber.  But  the  ingenuity  with  which 
a  stock  situation  is  rescued  from  the  relentless  issue 
in  Vanbrugh  is  Farquhar's  own.  The  attempted 
robbery  not  merely  interrupts  the  amour  at  the  critical 
point,  but  offers  an  effective  chance  for  Archer  to  dis- 
play his  bravery  and  to  merit  Mrs.  Sullen's  regard. 
Mrs.  Sullen  herself  well  describes  him:  'The  devil's 
in  this  fellow  !  he  fights,  loves,  and  banters,  all  in  a 
breath'  (V,  4).  The  next  scene  is  full  of  rapid 
movement  of  plot  and  shift  of  situation.  The  whole 
act,  handled  with  vigorous  assurance,  is  of  sustained 
interest. 

Farquhar  is  to  some  extent  a  forerunner  of  Gold- 4. 
smith.  The  opening  conversation  between  Boniface, 
the  innkeeper^  and  Aimwell  and  Archer  about  the 
menu  is  quite  Hke  that  of  Mr.  Hardcastle,  the  sup- 
posed innkeeper,  with  Marlow  and  Hastings  in  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer.  There  is  something,  too,  in  thet 
freshness  of  atmosphere,  in  the  group  of  country  and 


I40  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  vm 

innjolk,  and  in  the  Irish  good-humour,  which  is  akin 
to  the  spirit  of  Goldsmith.  Whatever  Farquhar's 
lapses  in  point  of  morality,  he  has  none  of  Wycherley's 
vindictive  and  brutal  cynicism.  Most  of  his  char- 
acters, with  all  their  faults,  are  companionable.  They 
are  not  so  clever  as  Congreve's,  but  fertile  brains  and 
facile  manners  make  them  attractive,  despite  some 
heartless  traits. 

While  Wycherley  adapted  Moliere  and  Vanbrugh 
followed  a  variety  of  models,  Farquhar's  ready  brain 
was  responsible  for  most  of  his  effectiveness  in  plot 
and  characters.  Farquhar  usually  suggests  to  others. 
Highwaymen  in  league  with  the  landlord  may  be  as 
old  as  the  First  Part  of  Henry  IV,  but  both  Goldsmith's 
She  Stoops  to  Conquer  and  Gay's  Beggar^ s  Opera  may 
have  found  a  nearer  model  in  The  Beaux'  Stratagem, 
Farquhar  imparts  to  his  characters  individuality. 
He  presents  a  whole  gallery  of  full-length  portraits  — 
the  country  squire,  the  Irish  adventurer,  the  fop,  the 
landlord,  the  tavern  maid,  the  recruiting  officer.  He 
sets  them  in  scenes  vivid  in  their  portrayal  of  eigh- 
teenth-century life.  The  inn,  the  country  house,  the 
gatherings  of  soldiers  and  highwaymen,  enlarge  a 
canvas  which  has  usually  represented  only  the  fashion- 
able world  of  courtier  and  intriguante.  Effective  in 
plot,  varied  in  scenes  and  characters,  Farquhar's 
last  and  best  comedy  brings  Restoration  comedy  to 
a  brilliant  close,  and  points  to  the  healthier  humour  of 
Goldsmith. 


IaJ^^^^^^-^  "^"^ 


CHAPTER  rX 

THE   MORAL  REAWAKENING 

With  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar,  Restora- 
tion comedy  draws  towards  its  end.  Its  brilliant 
dramas  continued  to  hold  the  boards  for  many  years, 
and  powerfully  influenced  eighteenth-century  drama. 
Yet  even  Sheridan,  on  whom  descended  Congreve's 
mantle  of  wit,  did  not  reproduce  the  traditional  li- 
cense of  Restoration  comedy.  The  awakening  forces 
of  moral  reform  to  which  Jeremy  Collier  gave  their 
most  decisive  expression  were  steadily  in  the  ascend- 
ant. Against  them  battled  vainly  the  defenders  of 
a  lost  cause.  Neither  the  ridicule  nor  the  serious 
arguments  desperately  essayed  by  opponents,  nor 
even  Colher's  own  absurdities,  could  avail  against 
the  solid  strength  of  his  main  contention.  Collier 
himself  was  less  the  prophet  of  an  unrealized  evil  than 
a  voice  through  which  revolt  against  the  immorality 
of  the  stage  became  fully  articulate.  Other  voices 
had  already  been  raised  in  partial  protest.  Evelyn's 
Diary  expressed  at  times  his  regret  at  the  license  of 
drama,  and  even  Pepys  had  not  always  been  tolerant 
of  the  evils  of  the  theatre  of  his  day.  James  Wright's 
Country  Conversations  (1694)  anticipated  Collier  in 
resenting  the  abuse  of  the  clergy  at  the  hands  of  dram- 
atists, and  suggested  that  '  now  most  of  our  New 
Comedies  are  become  very  Pictures  of  Immorality/ 

141 


142  ENGLISH  DRAMA  cHAP. 

and  Sir  Richard  Blackmore's  Preface  to  Prince  Arthur 
(1695)  declared  that  '  The  Poets  that  write  for  the 
stage  (at  least  a  great  part  of  ^em)  seem  deeply  con- 
cern'd  '  in  a  conspiracy  to  '  bring  Vice  and  Corruption 
of  Manners  into  Esteem  and  Reputation.'  Collier's 
main  attack  was  thus  prefaced  by  various  skirmishes. 
His  success  was  due  not  to  strategy,  but  to  an  im- 
pregnable position. 

It  is  important  to  examine,  in  some  detail,  the  real 
content  of  A  Short  View  of  the  Immorality,  and  Pro- 
faneness  of  the  English  Stage  (169&).  Vagaries  of 
individual  criticisms  blend  curiously  with  sound 
general  truths.  Collier  has  much  of  the  Puritan  in- 
tolerance of  William  Prynne's  Histrio-Mastix  and 
much  of  the  inartistic  obtuseness  of  Thomas  Rymer's 
Short  View  of  Tragedy.  The  first  chapter,  'The  Im- 
modesty of  the  Stage,'  an.  attack  upon  indecency  of 
lajiguage,  justly  declares  that  'The  Present  English 
Stage  is  superlatively  Scandalous.  It  exceeds  the 
Liberties  of  all  Times  and  Countries.'^  Yet  Collier, 
who  finds  some  excuse  for  Aristophanes  and  for 
Fletcher,  laments  that  Shakespeare  keeps  Ophelia  alive 
'only  to  sully  her  Reputation.'  The  second  chapter, 
on  ' The^  Profa[ne]ness  of  the  Stage,'  enters  a  sensible 
objection  to  swearing  as  'an  ungentlemanly,  as  well  as 
an  unchristian  Practice,'  but  finds  it  'a  heavy  Piece 
of  Profaness'  to  call  Jehu  a  'Hackney  Coachman.'^ 
In  the  third  chapter,  'The  Clergy  abused  by  the 
Stage,'  Collier  shifts  from  the  moral  to  the  social 
standpoint,  in  deprecating  the  representation  on  the 

*  1698  edition,  p.  54. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  143 

stage  of  the  priesthood,  on  the  ground  that  this  de- 
grades 'the  profession  of  a  Gentleman.'^  The  title 
of  the  fourth  chapter  shows  that  ColUer  could  not 
readily  go  astray  in  seeking  arguments  from  con- 
temporary drama:  ' The  Stage-Poets  make  their  " 
Principal  Persons  Vitious,  and  reward  them  at  the 
End  of  the  Play.'  Chapter  five  singles  out  certain  ^ 
plays,  ior  attack,  notably  Vanbrugh's  Relapse.  At 
one  moment,  Collier  justly  upbraids  Vanbrugh  for 
permitting  Berinthia  to  go  off  'without  Censure  or 
Disadvantage,'  but,  in  the  next,  cites  as  proof  of  her 
profanity  a  bit  of  persiflage  about  lovers'  oaths  which 
shows  that  ColHer  was  not  the  man  to  laugh  at  lovers' 
perjuries.^  The  _£nal  chapter,  'The  Opinion  of 
Paganism,  of  the  Church,  and  State,  concerning  the 
Stage,'  carries  the  discussion  far  afield.  Heathen 
philosophers,  orators,  and  historians,  the  constitu- 
tions of  Athens,  Sparta,  and  Rome,  and  the  edicts 
of  church  councils,  are  marshalled  into  an  attack  not 
upon  the  abuses  of  the  drama,  his  original  target,  but 
upon  the  stage  itself.  For  a  time  he  bids  fair  to  chal- 
lenge comparison  even  with  the  inimitable  prolixity 
and  absurdity  of  Prynne's  Eistrio-Mastix.  In  the 
end,  however,  he  returns  to  the  more  definite  charge 
that  the  stage  'cherishes  those  Passions,  and  rewards 
those  Vices,  which  'tis  the  business  of  Reason  to  dis- 
countenance.' ^ 

From  even  these  illustrations  it  will  be  apparent 
that  CoUier's  strength  lay  more  in  the  justice  of  his  «- 

^Ihid.,  p.  136. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  219-220. 

^Ihid.,  p.  287. 


144  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

cause  than  in  sustained  logic  of  argument.  Had  the 
basic  truth  of  his  general  contention  been  open  to 
question,  he  might  easily  have  defeated  his  own  ends. 
He  often  failed  to  distinguish  between  immorality 
and  harmless  jest,  between  moral  and  artistic  issues. 
He  poured  censure  alike  on  plays  that  rewarded  vice 
and  on  those  that  violated  the  dramatic  unities.  He 
sought  examples  not  even  remotely  connected  with  the 
real  question,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  alter  the  ques- 
tion itself.  Yet  if  he  often  fought  as  one  that  beat- 
eth  the  air,  many  of  his  blows  landed  with  deadly 
strength.  His  pamphlet  has  at  times  zest  and  vivacity 
as  well  as  blunt  force.  His  work  should  be  judged 
not  merely  by  its  flagrant  eccentricities  but  by  its 
underlying  elements  of  strength. 

So  obvious  are  the  immediate  responses  to  his  in- 
vective that  Collier  has  at  times  been  credited  with 
originating  rather  than  expressing  a  new  moral  stand- 
ard. At  all  events,  he  remained  the  central  figure  in 
the  war  of  pamphlets  which  prolonged  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century.  Charles  Gildon,  Edward 
Filmer,  John  Dennis,  Vanbrugh,  and  Congreve  ^  all 
took  up  the  cudgels  in  behalf  of  the  stage  within  some 
four  months  from  the  pubhcation  of  Collier's  attack. 
Gildon,  Filmer,  and  Dennis  did  not  fail  to  admit 
in  many  respects  the  justice  of  his  strictures,  but  took 
issue  with  his  extreme  arguments.  Yet  even  Dennis, 
who  had  the  candour  to  admit  that '  No  man  can  make 
any  reasonable  defence,  either  for  the  immorality 
or  the  immodesty,  or  the  unnecessary  wanton  pro- 

*  For  titles  and  discussion  of  these  pamphlets  and^those  cited  below, 
see  Gosse's  Congreve ^  pp.  112-129. 


IX  THE   MORAL   REAWAKENING  145 

phaneness  which  are  too  justly  charg'd  upon*  ^  contem- 
porary drama,  is  partisan  enough  to  defend  Wych- 
erley.  Vanbrugh  was  able  to  pierce  cleverly  a  few 
weak  points  in  Collier's  armour,  but  was  far  from 
finding  a  vital  spot.  Congreve  for  once  found  wit 
failing  him,  and  anger  a  sorry  substitute  for  argu- 
ment. His  reckless  attempt  to  show  that  Collier's 
citations  were  proof  of  the  critic's  impurity  fell  flat, 
and  Congreve  soon  learned  that  Vanbrugh  had  been 
right  in  admitting  that  the  Short  View  was  ^now  a 
thing  no  farther  to  be  laught  at.'  ^ 

ColHer  was  not  left  to  fight  his  battle  single-handed. 
Early  in  September,  two  minor  pamphlets  took  issue 
with  Congreve's  Amendments,  and,  not  long  after, 
The  Stage  Condemned  brought  him  the  doubtful  aid 
of  its  dull  proHxity.  But  Collier  was  not  content  to 
rest  his  case  on  his  first  main  indictment.  In  Novem- 
ber appeared  A  Defence  of  the  Short  View,  in  which 
he  dealt  chiefly  with  Congreve  and  Vanbrugh.  Other 
later  treatises  added  bulk,  rather  than  weight,  to  the 
controversy.  Collier's  answers  to  specific  details  of 
controversy  seem  to-day  to  detract  somewhat  from 
the  concentrated  force  of  his  first  invective.  Still, 
his  provocation  was  strong,  and  the  severity  of  his 
personalities  was  fully  matched  by  his  opponents. 
Yet  Dryden,  despite  flashes  of  very  human  resentment 
at  ColHer's  extreme  charges,^  bowed  to  the  justice  of 
the  main  indictment.^    While  the  tide  of  controversy 

*  The  Usefulness  of  the  Stage,  1698,  Introduction. 

2  Vanbrugh,  A  Short  Vindication  of  the  Relapse  and  the  Provoked 
Wife,  1698,  p.  4. 

'  See  beginning  of  Cytnon  and  Iphigenia. 

*  Preface  to  the  Fables  (1700),  Essays,  Ker,  II,  272. 

L 


146  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

still  raged  fiercely,  he  uttered  what  sounds  more  like 
the  verdict  of  an  impartial  judge  than  the  plea  of  the 
defendant : 

Perhaps  the  parson  stretched  a  point  too  far, 
When  with  our  theatres  he  waged  a  war. 
He  tells  you,  that  this  very  moral  age 
Received  the  first  infection  from  the  stage ; 
But  sure,  a  banished  court,  with  lewdness  fraught, 
The  seeds  of  open  vice,  returning,  brought.^ 

Congreve  and  Vanbrugh  had  reaped  the  whirlwind 
which  had  been  sown  in  the  court  of  the  Merry 
Monarch. 

The  extent  of  Collier's  influence  upon  the  tone  of 
English  drama  has  been  variously  estimated.  Not 
infrequently  the  question  has  been  dismissed  with 
positive  assertion  rather  than  with  positive  proof. 
Macaulay  evidently  assumed  that  Collier  was  prac- 
tically responsible  for  the  reform  of  the  English  stage. 
Recently,  there  has  been  a  reaction,  sometimes  almost 
amounting  to  violence,  against  this  once  popular 
assumption.  In  its  most  aggressive  form,  modern 
criticism  has  sometimes  gone  so  far  as  to  deny  Collier 
any  influence  upon  contemporary  drama  and  to  dis- 
miss his  attack  as  a  complete  failure.  This  is  to  swing 
the  pendulum  to  the  other  extreme.  Enough  has 
been  said  already  to  suggest  the  danger  of  assigning 
to  Collier  results  of  forces  too  far-reaching  to  be  at- 
tributed to  an  individual.  Yet  distaste  for  what  is 
intolerant  and  extravagant  in  Collier  should  not  pro- 
voke a  like  intolerance  in  the  critic.     The  course  of 

1  Epilogue  to  The  Pilgrim  (1700),  Scott-Saintsbury  edition  of 
Dryden,  VIH,  502. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  147 

drama  was  not  immediately  and  violently  turned  into 
a  purer  channel.  Despite  Collier's  strictures,  Far- 
quhar  and  Vanbrugh,  in  his  later  plays,  maintain  the 
license  of  Restoration  comedy,  and  the  looseness  of 
earher  Restoration  comedies  did  not  prevent  their 
retention  on  the  stage.  Yet,  if  the  superficial  aspect 
of  drama  was  not  largely  altered,  there  were  indubi- 
table signs  of  reaction  against  the  immorality  of  the 
stage.  The  attitude  of  the  law  and  government  is 
significant.  In  an  excellent  summary,  supported  by 
definite  proofs,  Dr.  Ward  says:^  'The  censorship 
of  the  Master  of  the  Revels  began  to  be  exercised  more 
strictly ;  actors  were  prosecuted  for  the  use  of  profane 
language,  and  the  playhouses  were  once  more  pre- 
sented as  nuisances  by  the  grand-jury ;  the  admission 
of  women  wearing  masks  into  any  of  the  theatres  was 
prohibited ;  and  Convocation  occupied  itself  with  the 
condition  of  the  stage  as  a  matter  of  moment  to  be 
pressed  upon  the  consideration  of  the  Crown.'  _Tlie 
slow,  but  perceptible,  influence  upon  the  character 
of  the  dramatic  output  becomes  more  apparent  with 
rising  dramatists  like  Colley  Cibber  and  Richard 
Steele.  The  effect  of  the  pamphlet  controversy  over 
the  morals  of  the  theatre  continued  for  almost  a  gen- 
eration until  William  Lawls  treatise.  The  Absolute 
Unlawfulness  of  the  Stage-Entertainment  fully  demon- 
strated (i-T^).  Collier's  attack  upon  the  stage  may 
not,  indeed,  claim  absolute  priority  in  the  dispute,  but 
it  focussed  the  discussion.  It  became  the  centre  of 
attack  and  the  rallying-point  of  defence.  It  would 
be  idle  to  exaggerate  to  heroic  proportions  the  medi- 

1  III,  514-515. 


148  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

ocre  figure  of  Jeremy  Collier,  but  it  would  be  unfair 
to  deny  him  in  the  controversy  of  his  day  a  prominence 
which  his  very  opponents  recognized. 

The  death  of  Dryden  and  the  withdrawal  of  Con- 
greve  from  dramatic  work  accentuate  the  passing  of 
the  old  order.  Whether  the  comparative  failure  of 
The  Way  of  the  World,  or  an  uneasy  sense  of  Collier's 
superiority  in  their  controversy,  or  simply  Congreve's 
fondness  for  the  social  Hfe  which  the  emoluments  of 
office  now  permitted  him  to  enjoy,  was  the  dominant 
factor  in  the  case,  Congreve  'left  the  stage  early.' 
And  though  the  generous  words  of  Dennis,  that 
'  Comedy  has  quitted  it  with  him,'  ^  have  the  exag- 
geration of  compHment,  they  suggest  a  truth.  Even 
Farquhar,  whose  later  work,  with  that  of  Vanbrugh, 
disproves  the  Uteral  accuracy  of  the  phrase,  bore 
striking  testimony  to  the  significance  of  Colher's 
attack.  His  Preface  to  The  Twin-Rivals  (printed  1703) 
begins  as  follows :  '  The  success  and  countenance  that 
debauchery  has  met  with  in  plays,  was  the  most  severe 
and  reasonable  charge  against  their  authors  in  Mr. 
ColHer's  Short  View;  and  indeed  this  gentleman  had 
done  the  drama  considerable  service,  had  he  arraigned 
the  stage  only  to  punish  its  misdemeanours,  and  not 
to  take  away  its  Ufe;  but  there  is  an  advantage  to 
be  made  sometimes  of  the  advice  of  an  enemy,  and  the 
only  way  to  disappoint  his  designs,  is  to  improve  upon 
his  invective,  and  to  make  the  stage  flourish,  by  virtue 
of  that  satire  by  which  he  thought  to  suppress  it.' 
Farquhar's  play,  however,  by  no  means  puts  virtuous 

1  The  Poetical  Register:  or,  the  Lives  and  Characters  of  the  Eng- 
lish Dramaiick  Poets  [by  Giles  Jacx)b],  1719,  p.  46. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  149 

theory  into  practice.  It  was  not  through  the  reform 
of  dramatists  of  the  old  school,  but  through  the  ad- 
vent of  new  playwrights  that  comedy  was  to  be 
purged  of  gross  license. 

Two  years  before  Jeremy  Collier^s  invective,  ap- 
peared the  first  play  of  Colley  Ctbt^^^e  (^^7^-^757)- 
Conspicuous  in  his  own  day  as  actor,  manager  of 
Drury  Lane,  plajnvright,  and  finally  poet-laureate, 
Gibber  Uves  to-day  chiefly  as  the  author  oiAn  Apology 
for  the  Life  of  Mr.  Colley  Cibber  .  .  .  Written  by  Him- 
self, an  entertaining  record  not  merely  of  his  own  Ufe 
but  of  the  whole  dramatic  history  of  his  times.  In 
writing  comedy  Cibber  avowed  a  dehberate  moral 
inJ;g;ntion.  In  comparing  his  first  comedy.  Love's 
Last  Shift,  or  The  Fool  in  Fashion  (1696),  with  Van- 
brugh's  famous  sequel,  Cibber  later  wrote :  ^  ^  The 
Relapse,  however  imperfect  in  the  Conduct,  by  the 
mere  Force  of  its  agreeable  Wit,  ran  away  with  the 
Hearts  of  its  Hearers ;  while  Love's  last  Shift,  which 
(as  Mr.  Congreve  justly  said  of  it)  had  only  in  it  a 
great  many  things  that  were  like  Wit,  that  in  reality 
were  not  Wit :  And  what  is  still  less  pardonable  (as 
I  say  of  it  myself)  has  a  great  deal  of  PueriHty  and 
frothy  Stage-Language  in  it,  yet  by  the  mere  moral 
Delight  received  from  its  Fable,  it  has  been,  with  the 
other,  in  a  continued  atid  equal  Possession  of  the  Stage 
for  more  than  forty  Years.'  Despite  its  'moral  de- 
light,' the  play  did  not  escape  the  censure  of  Jeremy 
Collier,  though  Cibber  protests^  that  'his  greatest 
Charge  against  it  is,  that  it  sometimes  uses  the  word 

*  Apology y  Lowe  edition,  I,  220. 
2  Ibid.,  I,  274. 


I50  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Faith!  as  an  Oath,  in  the  Dialogue/  Modern  taste 
might  find  a  stronger  objection  to  the  ease  with  which  a 
faithless  husband,  after  eight  years'  quest  of  pleasure, 
is  permitted  to  reclaim  a  faithful  wife.  Yet  difference 
in  moral  standards  rather  than  insincerity  on  Gibber's 
part  may  fairly  account  for  apparent  ethical  short- 
comings. 

Gibber's  alteration  of  Richard  III  gave  to  the  stage 
a  famous  acting  version,  for  more  than  a  century  the 
accepted  stage  text.  Some  minor  comedies,  one  of 
which  was  drawn  partly  from  Fletcher  and  another 
from  a  Spanish  source,^  were  followed  by  Gibber's 
most  conspicuous  success  in  comedy.  In  The  Careless 
EMsband  (1704)  he  seeks  definitely  to  moralize  comedy. 
Yet  Gibber's  play  is  rather  an  expurgated  Restoration 
comedy  than  a  new  comedy  type.  The  plot  is  two- 
fold. Sir  Gharles  Easy,  the  ^Gareless  Husband,' 
engages  in  amours  with  Lady  Grave- Airs  and  Edging, 
his  wife's  maid.  Lord  Morelove,  coquettishly  allured 
and  repulsed  by  Lady  Betty  Modish,  pretends  affec- 
tion to  Lady  Grave-Airs,  while  Lady  Betty  flirts 
with  Lord  Popping  ton.  The  seven  characters  are 
famiHar  comic  types.  Lady  Betty  Modish  is  the 
coquette  of  the  school  of  Gongreve's  Millamant. 
Lady  Grave-Airs  is  the  cast-off  mistress,  like  Gon- 
greve's Belinda,  in  The  Way  of  the^Wbrla.  In  Lord 
Foppington,  Gibber  reclaims  the  fop  that  Vanbrugh 
had  taken  from  Gibber's  Sir  Novelty  Fashion.  All 
these  fops  are  of  the  school  of  Etherege's  Sir  Fop- 
ling  Flutter  and  Growne's  Sir  Gourtly  Nice.  Yet 
Gibber's  Lord  Foppington  is  no  mere  echo.  Lady 
1  Ward,  III,  486. 


DC  THE   MORAL  REAWAKENING  151 

Easy  is  the  one  character  who  is  represented  as  ^ 
ethically  admirable.  In  the  scene  where  Lady  Easy 
finds  her  husband  and  the  maid  asleep  in  chairs, 
founded  according  to  Boswell  ^  on  fact,  Lady  Easy's 
ascent  from  prose  to  blank  verse  in  apostrophizing 
her  sleeping  husband  is  striking.  But  when,  anxious 
Uke  a  good  wife  lest  he  catch  cold  'bare-headed  and 
in  so  sound  a  sleep,'  she  determines  to  intercept  the 
wrath  of  'Heav'n  offended'  and  'takes  her  Steinkirk 
from  her  Neck,  and  lays  it  gently  over  his  Head, '  she 
relapses,  appropriately  to  the  anti-climax,  into  prose. 
Steele's  earlier  introduction  of  blank  verse  in  plays 
Hke  The  Funeral  (1701)  and  The  Lying  Lover  (1703) 
points  to  an  attempt  to  invest  the  serious  passages  of 
moralized  comedy  with  the  traditional  dignity  of 
verse. 

The  Lady^s  Last  Stake,  or  The  Wife's  Resentment  <«' 
(1707)  inculcates  the  same  moral  as  The  Careless 
Husband  —  that  love,  not  jealousy,  binds  the  wife  to 
the  husband's  heart.  Of  The  N on- Juror  (i 717),  an  w 
adaptation  of  MoHere's  Tartujffe  to  English  setting. 
Gibber  wrote : ^  'I  borrow'd  the  Tartufe  of  Moliere 
and  turn'd  him  into  a  modern  Nonjuror:  Upon  the 
Hypocrisy  of  the  French  character  I  ingrafted  a 
stronger  Wickedness,  that  of  an  English  Popish  Priest 
lurking  under  the  Doctrine  of  our  own  Church  to  raise 
his  Fortune  upon  the  Ruin  of  a  worthy  Gentleman, 
whom  his  dissembled  Sanctity  had  seduc'd  into  the 
treasonable  Cause  of  a  Roman  Catholick  Out-law.' 
The  N on- Juror  contains  some  well-drawn  characters, 

^  Life  of  Johnson,  Hill  edition,  1, 174,  footnote  2. 
2  Apology,  II,  186. 


t$it  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

and  its  bold  strokes  of  caricature  are  retouched 
in  Isaac  Bickerstaff's  The  Hypocrite  (1768),  but 
Gibber's  attempt  to  blend  politics  with  morals  is  a 
dubious  procedure.  The  Provoked  Husband  (172^), 
a  completion  of  Vanbrugh's  unfinished  comedy,  A 
Journey  to  London,  encountered,  according  to  Gibber,^ 
the  resentment  which  people  had  not  dared  to  show 
openly  to  the  political  tone  of  The  Non- Juror. 

In  another  connection,  there  will  be  good  reason  to 
discuss  Gibber's  resolute  championship  of  'legitimate 
drama '  against  the  encroachments  of  pantomime  and 
spectacle.  Here,  it  is  of  primary  importance  to  centre 
attention  on  his  conscious  moral  aim.  The  Dedica- 
tion of  The  Careless  Husband  shows  an  evident  wish 
to  reform  contemporary  comedy;  the  Prologue  de- 
clares the  intention  not  to  deal  with  the  grossness  of 
'the  Vile  Scum'  of  humanity  who  'deserve  not  Satyrs 
but  the  Hangman's  Lash,'  but  to  hit  'some  weak  Part, 
where  Folly's  found.'  Judged  by  modern  standards, 
Gibber  permits  even  gross  folly  and  sin  to  be  re- 
deemed with  ready  indulgence.  Yet,  if  Lady  Easy 
does  not  belie  her  name  in  viewing  her  careless  hus- 
band's errors,  her  position  is  treated  not  with  ridicule, 
but  with  sympathy.  If  Gibber  welcomes  the  home- 
coming of  his  prodigals  with  an  easy  forgetfulness  of 
their  lapses  from  virtue,  he  seeks  to  lay  chief  empha- 
sis on  the  pure  affection  and  constancy  of  their  wives. 
Nor  are  his  prodigals  libertines  'as  sensual  as  the" 
brutish  sting.'  They  are  more  akin  to  Tom  Jones 
than  to  Wycherley's  Horner.  There  is  no  reason  to 
question  Gibber's  sincerity  when,  from  the  vantage- 
*  Apology  f  II,  189-190. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  153 

point  of  his  later  years,  he  reviewed  his  attitude 
toward  the  drama :  ^  *  It  has  often  given  me  Amazement 
that  our  best  Authors  of  that  time  could  think  the  Wit 
and  Spirit  of  their  Scenes  could  be  an  Excuse  for 
making  the  Looseness  of  them  publick.  The  many- 
Instances  of  their  Talents  so  abused  are  too  glaring 
to  need  a  closer  Comment,  and  are  sometimes  too 
gross  to  be  recited.  If  then  to  have  avoided  this 
Imputation,  or  rather  to  have  had  the  Interest  and 
Honour  of  Virtue  always  in  view,  can  give  Merit  to  a 
Play,  I  am  contented  that  my  Readers  should  think 
such  Merit  the  All  that  mine  have  to  boast  of  —  Liber- 
tines of  meer  Wit  and  Pleasure  may  laugh  at  these 
grave  Laws  that  would  limit  a  lively  Genius:  But 
every  sensible  honest  Man,  conscious  of  their  Truth 
and  Use,  will  give  these  Ralliers  Smile  for  Smile,  and 
shew  a  due  Contempt  for  their  Merriment/ 

Convenient  illustration  of  the  failure  of  much  of  the 
drama  of  the  time  to  respond  to  suggestions  for  its 
moral  betterment  maybe  found  in  the  work  of  JMrs. 
Centlivre  (1667  ?-i 723).  Her  comedies  emphasize 
the  fact  that  neither  the  preaching  of  Collier  nor  the 
practice  of  Cibber  is  indication  of  more  than  a  general 
turn  of  the  tide.  For  some  two  decades  after  Collier's 
attack,  Mrs.  Centlivre  continued  to  write  down  to  the 
level  of  vulgarity.  Her  first  play,  a  blank- verse 
tragedy  with  some  comic  admixture,  and  a  later  trag- 
edy with  a  happy  solution  are  not  wholly  aloof  from 
the  comic  vein  which  she  chiefly  worked.  Aptitude 
for  effective  play  construction  and  a  certain  ease  of 
dialogue  gave  her  best  comedies  theatrical  life,  if  not 

1  Ibid.,  I,  266. 


154  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dramatic  vitality.  Though  most  of  her  characters, 
like  Sir  William  Mode,  in  The  Beau's  Duel,  or  A  Sol- 
dier for  the  Ladies  (1702),  are  familiar  comic  types, 
Mrs.  Centlivre  occasionally  chanced  upon  more  in- 
dividual characters.  Conspicuous  among  these  are 
Marplot  in  The  Busie-Body  (1709),  and  its  sequel 
(17 10),  later  known  as  Marplot  in  Lisbon,  and  Don 
Felix  in  The  Wonder  I  A^JWpman  Keeps  a  Secret 
(17 14),  one  of  Garrick's  most  successful  roles.  Mrs. 
Centlivre's  dramatic  activities,  which  extended  over 
more  than  a  score  of  years,  concluded  with  a  popular 
comedy,  A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife  (17 18),  and  The 
Artifice  (1722),  which  suggests  the  pervasive  influence 
of  sentimental  drama.  She  had  no  hesitation  in 
acknowledging  indebtedness  for  material  to  Moliere 
and  to  Spanish  sources  in  some  of  her  work,  but  she 
is  not  without  skill  in  adapting  materials  to  her  own 
purpose  and  not  without  cleverness  in  infusing  new 
elements.  Her  characters,  though  habitually  super- 
ficial and  conventional,  sometimes  found  genuine 
favour  on  the  stage.  With  little  of  the  vigour  and  indi- 
viduality which  have  preserved  distinction  for  the 
greater  Restoration  dramatists,  Mrs.  Centlivre 
adopted  but  too  readily  their  looseness.  With  small 
compunction,  she  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  expedi- 
ency. 

If  the  plays  of  CoUey  Cibber  mark  the  transition 
toward  healthier  moral  standards,  the  new  move- 
ment in  eighteenth-century  drama  is  fairly  inaugu- 
rated in  the  work  of  Richard  Steele  (1672-1729). 
^  To  the  conscious  moral  aim  of  Cibber,  Steele  added 
literary  art  and  genius.    Unfortunately,  that  genius 


K  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  155 

did  not  lie  naturally  in  drama.  Like  Addison,  his 
humour  was  less  for  the  footlights  than  for  the  quiet 
nooks  of  the  co£fee-houses.  Though  at  first  he 
broadened  his  humour  to  the  coarser  gauge  of  the  play- 
house, his  later  dramas  shrank  usually  from  such  ex- 
pedients. Like  Gibber,  Steele  resolutely  turned  his 
back  on  the  Hcentious,  but  the  finer  grain  of  his  nature 
seems  to  have  exacted  for  the  most  part  a  higher 
standard  than  that  which  satisfied  Gibber.  Since 
Steele  lacked  the  vis  comica  and  demonstrative  wit 
needed  for  sustaining  comedy  without  other  aids, 
he  sought  for  it  a  new  prop.  This  he  found  in  senti- 
ment. 

Steele  was,  in  a  sense,  the  founder  of  sentimental 
comedy.  Yet  it  must  not  be  thought  that  the  field 
of  which  he  took  possession  had  lain  hitherto  wholly 
imdiscovered.  Perhaps  the  real  origin  of  sentimental 
comedy  should  be  sought  not  simply  in  the  moraHzed 
comedy  of  Gibber  but  in  the  somewhat  sentimental- 
ized tragedy  of  Otway  and  Southerne.  The  rising 
tide  of  sentiment  invaded  the  entire  drama.  Its  ap-  ^: 
peal  to  pity  touched  a  fundamentally  tragic  emotion. 
Its  conscious  moral  aim  was  essentially  serious.  To 
regard  sentimental  comedy  as  a  separate  stream, 
whose  ultimate  source  is  Steele,  is  to  disregard  earlier 
and  broader  aspects  of  dramatic  history.  Further- 
more, the  eighteenth-century  current  of  sentiment 
was  not  confined  to  drama.  Later,  it  caught  up  and 
swept  along  novelists  like  Richardson  and  Sterne. 
Nor  was  it  confined  to  English  shores.  Back  and  forth 
across  the  Ghannel  swept  its  currents  and  counter- 
currents.    English  sentimental  comedy  from  Steele 


156  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

to  Hugh  Kelly  and  Richard  Cumberland  is  but  one 
channel  of  the  great  stream  of  sentiment  which  sought 
an  outlet  by  many  mouths  of  a  vast  delta. 

Before  turning  to  the  drama,  Steele  published,  in 
1 701,  a  religious  tract,  entitled  The^  Christian  HerOy 
which  brought  him  the  reputation  among  his  com- 
rades of  being  *a  disagreeable  Fellow.'  He  then 
deemed  it  *  incumbent  upon  him  to  enliven  his  Charac- 
ter, for  which  Reason  he  writ  the  Comedy  called  The 
Funeral,  in  which  (tho'  full  of  Incidents  that  move 
Laughter)  Virtue  and  Vice  appear  just  as  they  ought 
to  do.'  ^  The  Preface  to  The  Funeral  (1701)  declares 
that  '  the  innocence  of  it  moved '  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire 'to  the  humanity  of  expressing  himself  in  its 
favour.'  Yet  Steele  did  not  deny  himself  keen  satire 
and  humour  so  broad  that  it  sometimes  verges  on  farce. 
'The  subject  of  the  drama  'tis  hoped  will  be  acceptable 
to  all  lovers  of  mankind,'  says  his  Preface,  'since 
ridicule  is  partly  levelled  at  a  set  of  people  who  live  in 
impatient  hopes  to  see  us  out  of  the  world,  a  flock 
of  ravens  that  attend  this  numerous  city  for  their 
carcases.'  In  the  opening  scene  Mr.  Sable,  an  under- 
taker, has  trained  his  flock  of  ravens  so  effectively  that 
a  gravedigger,  unable  to  secure  easily  the  ring  from  a 
dead  man's  hand,  has  'brought  the  finger  and  all,' 
and  Sable  himself  announces  that '  our  friend  .  .  .  Dr. 
Passeport,  with  the  powder,  has  promised  me  six 
or  seven  funerals  this  week.'  There  is  rough  humour 
in  the  scene  (IV,  3)  where  Lord  Hardy  reviews  a  regi- 
ment as  ragged  as  Falstaff's,  and  Kate  Matchlock  re- 
counts matrimonial  vicissitudes  which  surpass  those  of 

*  Mr.  Steele's  Apology  for  Himself  and  his  Writings,  1714,  p.  80. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  l$f 

the  Wife  of  Bath.  There  is  the  extravagance  of  farce, 
too,  in  the  scene  (V,  3)  where  the  widow  who  asks, 
*Do  you  think  there  are  really  people  sorry  for  their 
husbands  ? '  apostrophizes  her  dead  squirrel  in  blank 
verse  of  dubious  rhythm,  while  Tattleaid  weeps 
sympathetically,  and  then  laughs  at  her  sallies  of  wit, 
in  imminent  danger  of  swallowing  a  mouthful  of  pins. 
Yet,  if  insincerity  in  grief  is  painted  in  high  colours, 
there  are  not  wanting  portraits  of  virtue  in  Lady 
Harriot  and  Mr.  Trusty,  the  honest  steward.^  Fur- 
thermore, the  play  bears  evidence  of  the  vein  of  moral 
sentiment  which  Steele  later  developed  more  definitely. 
Mr.  Campley,  whose  ardent  phrases  of  passion  for 
Lady  Harriot  Steele  himself  censured  in  The  Specta- 
tor (No.  51),  is  reproved  by  Lord  Hardy,  who  expects 
his  'fehcity  from  Lady  Sharlot,  in  her  friendship,  her 
constancy,  her  piety,  her  household  cares,  her  maternal 
tenderness'  (H,  i).  When  the  lovers  are  united  at 
the  end,  the  apparition  of  Lady  Sharlot  from  a  coflSn 
startles  Lord  Hardy  into  raptures,  if  not  of  genuine 
blank  verse,  at  least  of  capitalized  prose.  Lady 
Sharlot  responds  in  kind: 

How  sweet  applause  is  from  an  honest  tongue ! 

Thou  lov'st  my  mind  —  hast  well  affection  placed ; 

In  what,  nor  time,  nor  age,  nor  care,  nor  want  can  alter. 

Pure,  I  approach  thee ;  nor  did  I  with  empty  shows, 
Gorgeous  attire,  or  studied  negligence, 
Or  song,  or  dance,  or  ball,  allure  thy  soul ; 

*  'Mr.  Trusty  is  the  earliest  example  of  a  t>T)e  which  became 
familiar  to  the  stage  and  of  which  Sheridan's  Rowley  is  the  best- 
known  specimen.'    Ward,  III,  494. 


158  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

Nor  want,  or  fear,  such  arts  to  keep  or  lose  it : 
Nor  now  with  fond  reluctance  doubt  to  enter 
My  spacious,  bright  abode,  this  gallant  heart. 

As  she  appropriately  ^Reclines  on  Hardy,'  the  'senti- 
mental Muse'  seems  already  mounting  toward  that 
bad  eminence  from  which  Sheridan  later  sought  to 
dethrone  her.  Lord  Brompton,  too,  dehvers  to  his 
son  a  moral  harangue  on  the  duties  of  British  peers, 
in  blank  verse  that  limps  perceptibly.  Comedy 
slinks  to  the  wings,  while  morality  holds  the  centre  of 
the  stage,  till  Lord  Brompton,  with  a  belated  sense  of 
the  exigencies  of  comedy,  drops  from  verse  to  prose 
with  a  ^Not  but  I  intend  your  nuptials  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  draw  entails  and  settlements.'  The 
Epilogue,  however,  reverts  to  the  author's  moral  pur- 
pose —  'He'd  not  aim  to  please  only,  but  inspire'  — 
and  declares  that  'Courage  is  brutal,  if  untouched 
with  love.'  If  the  success  of  The  Funeral  is  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  comic  elements,  its  historical  impor- 
tance lies  chiefly  in  its  introduction  of  conscious  moral- 
ity and  sentiment. 

The  Lying  Lover,  or  The  Ladies^  Friendship  (1703), 
strikes  more  firmly  the  notes  of  morality  and  senti- 
ment already  sounded  in  The  Funeral.  A  passage  in 
his  Apology,^  in  which  Steele  declares  himself  'a  great 
Admirer '  of  Jeremy  Collier's  work,  says  that  he  took 
it  into  his  head  'to  write  a  Comedy  in  the  Severity  he 
[Collier]  required,'  and  adds :  'I  have  been  a  Martyr 
and  Confessor  for  the  Church;  for  this  Play  was 
damn'd  for  its  Piety.'  Dedication,  Preface,  and 
Prologue  alike  testify  to  the  deliberate  moral  purpose. 
^Mr.  Steele's  Apology ^  I7i4>  P-  48. 


K  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  159 

In  the  first,  he  states  that  ^The  design  of  it  is  to  banish 
out  of  conversation  all  entertainment  which  does 
not  proceed  from  simplicity  of  mind,  good-nature, 
friendship,  and  honour';  in  the  second,' he  confesses 
'an  honest  ambition  to  attempt  a  Comedy  which  might 
be  no  improper  entertainment  in  a  Christian  common- 
wealth ' ;  and  in  the  third,  he  suggests  that  he  '  treads 
the  stage  With  just  regard  to  a  reforming  age.'  More 
significant,  however,  than  this  distinct  moral  purpose 
is  the  development  of  sentiment  in  comedy.  Dr. 
Ward^  writes,  'The  serious  portion  of  the  plot  of 
The  Lying  Lover  .  .  .  renders  this  play  remarkable 
as  the  first  instance  of  Sentimental  Comedy  proper.' 
Following  the  tentative  essays  in  The  Funeral,  this 
portion  is  largely  cast  in  the  form  of  blank  verse. 

Perhaps  the  deepest  significance  of  The  Lying  Lover  <^ 
is  the  proof  it  affords  that  sentiment  was  essentially 
a  link  between  comedy  and  tragedy.  The  Preface 
remarks  that  Young  Bookwit,  the  'Lying  Lover,' 
after  prodigal  waste  of  his  opportunities,  'in  the  fifth 
Act  awakes  from  his  debauch,  with  the  compunction 
and  remorse  which  is  suitable  to  a  man's  finding  him- 
self in  a  gaol  for  the  death  of  his  friend,  without  his 
knowing  why.  The  anguish  he  there  expresses,  and 
the  mutual  sorrow  between  an  only  child  and  a  tender 
father  in  that  distress,  are,  perhaps,  an  injury  to  the 
rules  of  comedy,  but  I  am  sure  they  are  a  justice  to 
those  of  morahty.  And  passages  of  such  a  nature 
being  so  frequently  applauded  on  the  stage,  it  is  high 
time  that  we  should  no  longer  draw  occasions  of 
mirth  from  those  images  which  the  religion  of  our 

1  Ward,  III,  495. 


l6o  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

country  tells  us  we  ought  to  tremble  at  with  horror.' 
Equally  significant  is  the  Epilogue : 

Our  too  advent 'rous  author  soared  to-night 
Above  the  little  praise,  mirth  to  excite, 
And  chose  with  pity  to  chastise  delight. 
For  laughter's  a  distorted  passion.  .  .  . 

While  generous  pity  of  a  painted  woe 

Makes  us  ourselves  both  more  approve  and  know. 

In  thus  deliberately  appealing  to  pity  instead  of  laugh- 
ter, sentimental  comedy,  in  its  very  inception,  links 
itself  with  the  tragedy  of  Otway  and  Southerne. 
Henceforward,  to  adapt  the  words  of  Sir  Fretful  Pla- 
giary, the  writer  of  sentimental  comedy  *  might  take 
out  some  of  the  best  things  in  tragedy,  and  put  them 
into  his  own  comedy.'  A  wide  gulf  yawns  between  the 
conception  of  comedy  as  'Laughter  holding  both  his 
sides'  and  Steele's  idea  that  'laughter's  a  distorted 
passion.'  Already  Thalia  is  beginning  to  lose  her 
smile  under  the  borrowed  mask  of  her  tragic  sister. 

Steele  could  have  little  foreseen  the  devastating 
spread  of  those  fires  of  revolution  which  he  had  helped 
to  kindle.  If  the  sentimentalized  morality  of  the  last 
act  caused  the  play  to  be  'damned  for  its  piety,'  the 
earlier  acts  show  that  the  author  by  no  means  aban- 
doned wholly  the  usual  methods  of  comedy.  The 
scene  (III,  i)  where  the  rivals,  Penelope  and  Victoria, 
misuse  patch  and  powder  to  disfigure  each  other's 
charms  has  the  piquant  touch  of  Restoration  light 
comedy.  Even  the  introduction  of  the  hero  to  New- 
gate prison  does  not  forbid  a  comic  scene  (IV,  4) 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  l6l 

where  he  is  hailed  by  the  *  crowd  of  gaol-birds'  as  a 
hero,  since  he  is  thought  to  have  killed  his  man.  In 
borrowing  from  Corneille,  Steele  followed  a  familiar 
practice  of  EngHsh  pla3nvrights.  The  significance  of 
The  Lying  Lover,  however,  rests  not  in  its  indebted- 
ness to  Continental  sources,  but  in  its  radical  depar- 
tures into  new  fields. 

In  The  Lying  Lover,  Young  Bookwit  had  pronounced 
himself  (III,  2)  '  the  founder  of  accomplished  fools,  of 
which  I'll  institute  an  order.'  This  order  Steele 
seems  to  have  instituted  in  The  Tender  Husband,  or 
The  Accomplished  Fools  (1705).  For  the  main  title, 
and  something  of  the  treatment  of  the  theme,  he  may 
have  taken  suggestions  from  Gibber's  Careless  Hus- 
band. In  dedicating  this  play  to  Addison,  who  wrote 
the  Prologue,  Steele  says  that  he  would  not  offer  it  as 
a  memorial  of  their  friendship  'had  I  not  been  very 
careful  to  avoid  everything  that  might  look  ill-natured, 
immoral,  or  prejudicial  to  what  the  better  part  of  man- 
kind hold  sacred  and  honourable.'  Yet  the  opening 
scene  develops  Clerimont's  repellant  scheme  of  test- 
ing his  wife  by  disguising  his  mistress,  Fainlove,  in 
man's  attire,  and  the  scene  (V,  i)  where  Clerimont 
interrupts  their  assignation  approaches  too  closely 
the  dangerous  path  of  Restoration  comedy.  It  may 
be  said  that  Steele  reunites  husband  and  wife  in  the 
recognition  that  married  happiness  rests  on  constant 
love,  but  it  is  a  doubtful  ethical  standard  that  permits 
the  erring  husband  to  pose  as  tenderly  magnanimous. 
When  he  condescendingly  forgives  his  wife  with  the 
words,  'And  now  I  have  shown  you  your  error,  I'm 
in  so  good  humour  as  to  repeat  you  a  couplet  on  the 


1 62  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

occasion/  one  would  gladly  substitute  *  Forgiveness  to 
the  injured  does  belong.' 

i^  Far  more  interesting  is  that  part  of  the  play  which 
concerns  Biddy  Tipkin  and  her  cousin  Humphry 
Gubbin  —  ancestors,  in  some  sense,  of  Sheridan's 
Lydia  Languish  ^  and  Goldsmith's  Tony  Lumpkin. 
Biddy  Tipkin,  who  'has  spent  all  her  solitude  in  read- 
ing romances '  and  has  renamed  herself  '  Parthenissa/ 
is  steeped  in  French  and  English  romances  as  thor- 
oughly as  is  Lydia  Languish  in  the  sentimental  novels 
of  the  circulating  library.  Biddy's  romantic '  humour ' 
gives  rise  to  excellent  comic  scenes  —  with  Clerimont, 
who  humours  her  with  the  fantastic  language  of  chiv- 
alry, and  with  her  country  bumpkin  cousin,  who  sub- 
mits his  intended  bride  to  scrutiny,  'as  not  caring  to 
buy  a  pig  in  a  poke.'  The  scene  (III,  2)  where  Biddy 
and  her  cousin  agree  to  disagree,  and  the  Aunt  is  led 
to  think  '  they  are  come  to  promises  and  protestations,' 
is  closely  akin  to  Goldsmith's  scene  between  Tony 
Lumpkin  and  Miss  Neville  where  Mrs.  Hardcastle 
imagines  they  are  bilhng  and  cooing.  It  is  somewhat 
remarkable  that  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan  who  led  so 
powerfully  the  revolt  against  sentimental  comedy 
borrowed  from  Steele.  Fielding,  too,  possibly  found 
suggestions  for  Squire  Western  in  Sir  Harry  Gubbin. 
On  the  other  hand,  Steele  owed  somewhat  to  Moliere, 
to  Gibber,  and  to  Addison,^  while  the  passage  (V,  2) 
in  which  Tipkin  insists  on  being  written  down  a  rascal 
is  obviously  reminiscent  of  Dogberry.    Viewed  as  a 

^For  more  detailed  comparison,  see  the  present  writer's  Major 
Dramas  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  Introduction,  liv-lvi. 
2  See  Steele's  acknowledgement  in  The  Spectatorf  No.  555. 


IX  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  163 

whole,  The  Tender  Husband  is  perhaps  Steele*s  most  l, 
genuine  comedy. 

During  the  period  of  The  Tatler,  The  Spectator,  and 
The  Guardian,  Steele  turned  from  drama  to  essay. 
The  Conscious  Lovers  (1722)  resumes  the  vein  of  v 
sentimental  comedy.  The  attacks  upon  it  of  Dennis 
and  other  pamphleteers  may  have  increased  its  suc- 
cess. Revivals  of  it  were  frequent  for  some  forty 
years,  and  it  was  acted  at  times  in  the  first  decades 
of  the  next  century.  Definitely  directed  againstc 
duelling,  it  is  devoted  so  seriously  to  the  cause  of 
virtue  that  the  Preface  declares  some  incidents  *are 
esteemed  by  some  people  no  subjects  of  comedy.^ 
The  distresses  of  the  sentimental  Indiana  drew  tears 
from  General  Churchill.^  Fielding's  Parson  Adams 
^  never  heard  of  any  plays  fit  for  a  Christian  to  read, 
but  Cato  and  The  Conscious  Lovers'  and  owned  that 
'in  the  latter  there  are  some  things  almost  solemn 
enough  for  a  sermon.'^  Welsted's  Prologue  declares 
that  Steele  'By  new  and  desperate  rules  resolved  to 
write,'  and  sought  to  'please  by  wit  that  scorns  the 
aids  of  vice.'  The  audience  is  invoked  'with  breeding 
to  refine  the  age.  To  chasten  wit,  and  moraHse  the 
stage.'  Fortunately,  at  CoUey  Gibber's  suggestion, 
Steele  admitted  a  larger  comic  element  than  he  had 
at  first  allowed  himself.  The  excellent  scene  where 
Tom  recalls  to  Phillis  his  torments  of  love  while  he 
washed  the  outside  of  a  window  which  she  was  clean- 
ing inside  is  a  delightful  bit  of  foolery  —  an  uncon- 

^  See  Steele's  Preface,  and  G.  A.  Aitken's  footnote,  Mermaid  edi- 
tion of  Steele,  p.  270. 

^Joseph  Andrews,  Book  III,  Chapter  XI  (end).  ■ 


l64  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

scious  burlesque,  one  is  tempted  to  suggest,  of  the  sen- 
timent of  the  conscious  lovers.  Unhappily  such  by- 
play only  partially  relieves  the  essentially  sentimental 
strain.  More  prominent  are  the  virtuous  loves  of 
Bevil  and  Indiana,  the  moral  heroics  which  tend  to 
convert  Bevil  from  hero  to  prig,  and  the  tragic  heart- 
rendings  of  Indiana  before  her  restoration  to  her 
long-lost  father.  The  dialogue  responds  to  the  sen- 
timental strain.  'If  pleasure,'  says  Bevil  (II,  2),  'be 
worth  purchasing,  how  great  a  pleasure  is  it  to  him, 
who  has  a  true  taste  of  life,  to  ease  an  aching  heart ; 
to  see  the  human  countenance  lighted  up  into  smiles 
of  joy,  on  the  receipt  of  a  bit  of  ore  which  is  super- 
fluous and  otherwise  useless  in  a  man's  own  pocket  ?' 
Bevil  ushers  the  music-master  to  the  door  with  less 
of  the  instinctive  courtesy  of  the  gentleman  than  the 
complaisant  condescension  of  the  conscious  prig, 
declaring  'we  ought  to  do  something  more  than  barely 
gratify  them  for  what  they  do  at  our  command,  only 
because  their  fortune  is  below  us.'  To  this  Indiana 
responds  with  'a  smile  of  approbation'  and  the  senti- 
ment that  she  '  cannot  but  think  it  the  distinguishing 
part  of  a  gentleman  to  make  his  superiority  of  fortune 
as  easy  to  his  inferiors  as  he  can.'  Many  of  the 
scenes  conclude  with  moral  tags  in  verse.  Already 
the  habit  of  moral  aphorism  had  fastened  itself  on 
comedy,  a  habit  that  was  to  develop  to  great  extremes 
before  it  lost  its  charm  in  the  ftiouth  of  the  hypocrite, 
Joseph  Surface. 

In  the  history  of  English  drama,  Richard  Steele 
attains  a  prominence  disproportionate  to  his  actual 
dramatic  merits.    Without  the  dramatic  power  of 


DC  THE  MORAL  REAWAKENING  165 

many  of  his  Restoration  predecessors,  and  without 
the  insight  that  makes  moraUty  the  ally,  rather  than 
the  conscious  master,  of  dramatic  art,  Steele  at  least 
perceived  that  the  art  that  holds  the  mirror  up  to 
nature  cannot  be  divorced  from  the  greatest  law  of 
nature.  Despite  both  his  own  ethical  shortcomings 
and  the  excessive  zeal  that  turned  morality  into 
moralizing,  he  gave  powerful  and  salutary  aid  to  a 
reform  of  vital  necessity  to  drama.  Yet,  if  Steele  led  *» 
the  way  to  moral  reform,  he  also  led  the  way  uncon- 
sciously to  dramatic  decay.  Sentiment  becomes  in 
inferior  hands  sentimentality.  The  appeal  of  Steele's 
sentimental  comedy  to  the  emotion  of  pity  became 
with  inferior  playwrights  a  false  emotional  motive. 
The  doctrine  that  'laughter's  a  distorted  passion'  led 
comedy  to  substitute  tears  for  mirth.  The  moral  ^ 
reform  of  English  drama  was  won  at  the  expense  of 
almost  half  a  century  during  which  Comedy  bowed 
her  head  in  the  presence  of  Sentimentahty.  Restora- 
tion comedy  has  long  worn  the  title  of  'artificial,' 
but  in  another  sense,  it  was  an  equally  artificial 
comedy  that  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
offered  its  sacrifices  to  'The  Goddess  of  the  woeful 
countenance  —  the  Sentimental  Muse.' 


CHAPTER  X 

SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA  ^ 

As  the  retirement  of  Congreve  largely  eclipsed  the 
gaiety  of  comedy,  the  death  of  Dryden  emphasized 
the  close  of  Restoration  tragedy.  The  fine  frenzy 
of  Lee  had  burned  itself  out  in  gusts  of  insanity; 
*  tender  Otway '  had  long  since  met  his  tragic  end. 
Neither  the  theatrical  declamation  of  Banks  nor  the 
sentimental  pathos  of  Southerne  could  achieve  an 
All  for  Love  or  a  Venice  Preserved.  At  the  time  of 
ColHer's  invective,  an  enfeebled  tragedy  held  the 
stage.  The  brunt  of  his  attack  had  fallen  naturally 
upon  comedy.  With  the  exception  of  its  coarsely 
comic  prologues  and  epilogues.  Restoration  tragedy 
had  done  violence  to  nature  rather  than  to  morality. 
Its  very  unreality  had  removed  it  from  the  fashionable 
vice  which  had  been  too  faithfully  reproduced  in 
contemporary  comedy.  The  heroic  drama  had  torn 
passion  to  tatters,  yet  there  had  remained  shreds  of 
heroic  valour  and  love.  With  the  awakening  tendency 
to  reform  the  stage,  tragedy  became  more  moralized 
and  more  sentimentalized.  The  titles  of  some  of  the 
tragedies  of  1698  distinctly  suggest  a  recurrence  to 
themes  of  heroic  drama  —  Victorious  Love;  The  Fatal 
Discovery,  or  Love  in  Ruins;  Heroick  Love;  Beauty 

1  The  present  chapter  is  not  confined  rigidly  to  the  exact  limits  of 
Queen  Anne's  reign,  1 702-1 714. 

166 


CHAP.  X    SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA     167 

in  Distress;  Queen  Catharine ^  or  The  Ruins  of  Love. 
Though  Mrs.  Fix's  Queen  Catharine  has  English  char- 
acters, most  of  the  tragedies  of  the  year  give  to  their 
themes  of  love  and  valour  a  foreign  setting.  Crowne's 
Caligula  reverts  even  to  the  use  of  rhyme.  Yet  not 
love  itself,  but  the  ghost  of  love  moves  among  the  ruins 
of  heroic  sentiment.  In  vain  did  George  Granville 
proclaim  the  heroine  of  his  Heroick  Love 

The  brightest  Pattern  of  Heroick  Love 

And  perfect  Virtue,  that  the  World  e're  knew.  (V,  2) 

In  the  dire  distress  of  comedy,  the  writers  of  tragedy 
may  perhaps  have  seen  an  opportunity  which  they 
lacked  ability  to  grasp.  It  is  dangerous  to  generalize 
from  imperfect  data,  but  Genest's  lists  of  plays  pro- 
duced at  the  various  London  theatres  seem  to  show 
a  preponderance  of  comedies  for  the  years  1696  and 
1697,  and  of  tragedies  for  the  years  1698  and  1699. 
Yet  the  decline  of  comedy,  owing  partly  to  dearth 
of  comic  genius,  partly  to  its  more  rigorous  restriction, 
and  partly  to  its  increasing  substitution  of  sentiment 
and  pathetic  appeal  instead  of  mirth,  cannot  be  said  to 
be  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  rise  in  tragedy.  If 
the  waters  of  tragedy  broaden,  they  do  not  run  deep. 
Neither  the  advent  of  female  dramatists  like  Mrs. 
Manley,  Mrs.  Fix,  and  Catharine  Cockburn  (later 
Mrs.  Trotter),  nor  the  excursions  of  critics  like  Charles 
Gildon  and  John  Dennis  in  the  field  of  drama,  could 
vitalize  tragedy.  Alike  unavailing  were  Dennis's 
attempts,  in  1699,  "to  borrow  tragic  themes  from  Tasso 
in  Rinaldo  and  Armida,  and  from  Euripides  in 
Iphigenia. 


l68  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

While  the  stage  was  sore  beset  by  Collier  and  other 
foes  from  without,  it  had  to  struggle  against  enemies 
from  within.  Attention  has  already  been  directed 
to  the  tangible  effect  upon  drama  of  the  elaboration 
,  of  scenery  and  stage  mechanism  and  of  the  operatic 
'  accessories  of  music  and  dancing.  The  last  decades 
of  the  seventeenth  century  show  many  proofs  of  the 
continued  force  of  such  influences.  Dorset  Gardens, 
in  Dryden's  words,  'the  gaudy  house  with  scenes/ 
became  increasingly  a  home  for  spectacle.  The 
Prologue  to  Farquhar's  Constant  Couple  (1699)  laments: 

Ah,  friends  !  Poor  Dorset-Garden  house  is  gone ; 
Our  merry  meetings  there  are  all  undone : 
Quite  lost  to  us,  sure  for  some  strange  misdeeds, 
That  strong  dog  Samson's  puU'd  it  o'er  our  heads. 

Under  Christopher  Rich  its  'gay  shows'  were  devoted 
frequently  to  feats  of  acrobats  and  exhibitions  of  ani- 
mals. Cibber  recalls  Rich's  project  of  introducing 
'an  extraordinary  large  Elephant'  and  his  reluctant 
abandonment  of  '  so  hopeful  a  Prospect  of  making  the 
Receipts  of  the  Stage  run  higher  than  all  the  Wit  and 
Force  of  the  best  Writers  had  ever  yet  rais'd  them  to.'^ 
Dorset  Gardens  Theatre  was  not  alone  in  catering 
to  the  popular  taste  for  'such  conceits  as  clownage 
keeps  in  pay.'  The  Prologue  to  Steele's  Funeral 
(1701)  begins  thus : 

Nature's  deserted,  and  dramatic  art. 
To  dazzle  now  the  eye,  has  left  the  heart ; 
Gay  lights  and  dresses,  long  extended  scenes, 
Demons  and  angels  moving  in  machines, 

» Apology,  II,  6-7. 


X         SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       169 

All  that  can  now,  or  please,  or  fright  the  fair, 

May  be  performed  without  a  writer's  care, 

And  is  the  skill  of  carpenter,  not  player. 

Old  Shakespeare's  days  could  not  thus  far  advance ; 

But  what's  his  buskin  to  our  ladder  dance  ? 

A  generation  earlier  Dryden  had  deplored  the  advent 
of  a  Trench  troop'  that  'left  their  itch  of  novelty  be- 
hind.' His  forebodings  were  amjply  justified.  Downes 
says  in  his  Roscius  Anglicanus  (1708)  ^ :  'In  the  space 
of  Ten  Years  past,  Mr.  Betterton  [then  manager  of 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre]  to  gratify  the  desires  and 
Fancies  of  the  Nobility  and  Gentry;  procur'd  from 
Abroad  the  best  Dances  and  Singers,  as,  Monsieur 
UAhhe,  Madam  Suhlini  [Subligny],  Monsieur  Balon, 
Margarita  Delpine,  Maria  Gallia  and  divers  others; 
who  being  Exorbitantly  Expensive,  produc'd  small 
Profit  to  him  and  his  Company,  but  vast  Gain  to  them- 
selves.' To  the  same  effect  runs  the  testimony  of 
CoUey  Gibber  and  Charles  Gildon,^  while  Rowe,  in  the 
Epilogue  to  The  Ambitious  Step-M other  (1700),  pro- 
duced at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre,  declares : 

Show  but  a  Mimick  Ape,  or  French  buffoon. 
You  to  the  other  House  in  Shoals  are  gone. 
And  leave  us  here  to  tune  our  Crowds  alone. 
Must  Shakespear,  Fletcher,  and  laborious  Ben, 
Be  left  for  Scaramouch  and  Harlequin? 

Referring  to  a  somewhat  later  date,  CoUey  Gibber 
says  that  ^the  Patentee  of  Drury-Lane  [Rich]  went 
on  in  his  usual  Method  of  paying  extraordinary  Prices 

ip.46. 

*  Apology,  I,  316-317.    Gildon,  A  Comparison  between  the  Two 
Stages  J  1702,  p.  49 :   'The  Town  ran  mad  to  see  him'  [Balonl. 


I70  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

to  Singers,  Dancers,  and  other  exotick  Performers, 
which  were  as  constantly  deducted  out  of  the  sinking 
Sallaries  of  his  Actors.  .  .  .  For  it  seems  he  had  not 
purchas'd  his  Share  of  the  Patent  to  mend  the  Stage, 
but  to  make  Money  of  it.  .  .  .  His  point  was  to 
please  the  Majority,  who  could  more  easily  compre- 
hend any  thing  they  saw  than  the  daintiest  things  that 
could  be  said  to  them.'^  Yet  even  Gibber,  whose 
Apology  bristles  in  defence  of  regular  drama,  and  who 
once  refused  to  appear  on  the  stage  on  the  same  day 
with  'a  Set  of  Rope-dancers,'  ^  confesses  that,  as  a 
manager,  he  compromised  his  convictions,  'and  had 
not  Virtue  enough  to  starve  by  opposing  a  Multitude 
that  would  have  been  too  hard  for  me.'  ^ 

Among  the  var  ous  stage  diversions  which  thus 
challenged  regular  drama  in  the  competition  for  popu- 
lar favour  none  was  more  conspicuous,  in  the  first 
decade  of  the  eighteenth  century,  than  Italian  opera. 
Some  account  has  been  given  previously  of  D'Ave- 
nant's  introduction  of  English  opera  and  of  the  subse- 
quent development  of  what  Gibber  describes  ^  as  'a  new 
Species  of  Plays,  since  calFd  Dramatick  Opera's,  of 
which  kind  were  the  Tempest,  Psyche,  Circe,  and  others, 
all  set  off  with  the  most  expensive  Decorations  of 
Scenes  and  Habits,  with  the  best  Voices  and  Dancers.' 
In  his  Prologue  spoken  at  the  Opening  of  the  New  House 
(1674),  Dryden  declared  it  folly 

To  build  a  playhouse  while  you  throw  down  plays ; 
While  scenes,  machines,  and  empty  operas  reign. 

» Apology,  II,  6.  « Ibid.,  H,  7. 

»J6«^.,II,  182.  «/Wi.,I,94. 


X         SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       171 

Yet  Dryden  himself,  in  1685,  produced  his  opera 
Albion  and  Albanius,  and  in  the  Preface  defined  opera 
as  *a  poetical  tale,  or  fiction,  represented  by  vocal 
and  instrumental  music,  adorned  with  scenes,  ma- 
chines, and  dancing.'  The  EngHsh  stage  had,  there- 
fore, been  familiar  with  some  forms  of  opera  long 
before  the  appearance  of  Arsinoe  (1705)  which  Addi- 
son calls  '  the  first  opera  that  gave  us  a  taste  of  ItaHan 
music'  ^  Gibber  pictures  ^  unsparingly  the  advent  of 
Italian  opera  in  England  'in  as  rude  a  disguise  and  un- 
hke  it  self  as  possible ;  in  a  lame,  hobhng  Translation 
into  our  own  Language,  with  false  Quantities,  or  Metre 
out  of  Measure  to  its  original  Notes,  sung  by  our 
own  unskilful  Voices,  with  Graces  misapply'd  to  al- 
most every  Sentiment,  and  with  Action  Hfeless  and 
unmeaning  through  every  Gharacter.'  Native  Eng- 
lish writers  vigorously  denounced  the  foreign  invader. 
In  the  Epilogue  to  The  Tender  Husband  (1705),  Steele 
bade  Britons 

From  foreign  insult  save  this  English  stage. 
No  more  th'  Italian  squalling  tribe  admit, 
In  tongues  unknown. 

John  Dennis,  in  An  Essay  on  the  Opera^s  After  the  Italian 
Manner,  Which  are  about  to  be  Established  on  the  English 
Stage  (1706),  after  pronouncing  ItaHan  opera  *mon- 
struous,'  declares^  that  in  Italy,  however,  it  is  'a  beauti- 
ful harmonious  Monster,  but  here  in  England  'tis  an 
ugly  howling  one.'    Addison,  whose  later  strictures  on 

1  The  Spectator,  No.  18.    This  entire  paper,  together  with  Nos.  5, 
13,  and  29,  should  be  consulted  for  Addison's  views  on  opera. 

2  Apology f  I,  324. 
»p.  14. 


172  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

Italian  opera  include  an  attack  on  the  mongrel  blend- 
ing of  English  words  with  the  Itahan  recitativo  style/ 
seemingly  attempted,  with  the  aid  of  the  composer 
Clayton,  to  produce  in  Rosamond  (1707)  a  native 
English  opera. ^  Yet  dramatists  like  Vanbrugh  and 
Congreve  recognized,  as  managers,  the  'prevailing 
Novelty'  by  opening  Hheir  new  Hay-Market  Theatre 
with  a  translated  Opera  to  Italian  Musick,  called  the 
Triumph  of  Love'^  (1705)'  Of  three  distinguished 
operatic  singers,  Valentini,  Nicolini,  and  Mrs.  Tofts, 
Colley  Gibber  himself  says  ^  that  *  three  such  excellent 
Performers  in  the  same  kind  of  Entertainment  at  once, 
England  till  this  Time  had  never  seen.'  The  main 
reliance  of  Rich  during  the  Drury  Lane  season  of  1 706- 
•  1707  was  opera.  Rinaldo  (i  7 1 1) ,  the  first  of  Handel's 
numerous  operas  for  the  English  stage,  was  a  popular 

.  success.  Doubtless  the  effect  of  opera  upon  the  drama 
is  to  be  measured  not  merely  by  the  extent  to  which  it 
usurped  the  place  of  drama  on  the  pubHc  stage,  but 
also  by  the  inevitable  tendencies  of  its  theatrical  and 
spectacular  features  toward  the  improbable  and  the 
unnatural  in  dramatic  representation. 

u  Notwithstanding  the  powerful  forces  that  thus 
threatened  regular  drama,  its  cause  was  by  no  means 
desperate.  Diuring  the  first  decade  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  Elizabethan  and  Restoration  plays  were  con=. 

1  The  Spectator,  No.  29. 

*  *  It  appears  to  have  been  intended  as  a  kind  of  protest  against  the 
librettos  of  operas  written  to  suit  the  English  performers,  who  helped 
out  the  arias  and  duets  sung  by  the  Italians  in  their  native  tongue.* 
Ward,  III,  323,  footnote. 

» Apology,  I,  325. 

<  Ibid.,  II,  55' 


X         SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       173 

stantly  reproduced.  Tragedies  of  Shakespeare — some 
oi  them,  unfortunately,~iii''* their  Restoration  per- 
versions —  tragi^comedies  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 
heroic  dramas  of  Dryden,  and  many  plays  of  Otway, 
Lee,  Banks,  Southerne,  and  Congreve  may  fairly  be 
regarded  as  stock  plays  of  the  period.  Nor  was  the 
theatre  forced  to  draw  its  vitahty  wholly  from  the 
strength  of  the  past.  Farquhar,  Gibber,  and  Steele 
won  success  in  comedy.  Tragedy,  which  seemed 
for  a  time  to  have  fallen  upon  evil  days,  found  some 
encouragement  in  the  advent  of  a  new;^  dramatist  of 
real  ability. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  a  London  barrister, 
Nicholas  Rowe  (1674-17 18)  turned  from  the  un- 
congenial pursuit  of  law  to  drama.  The  Ambitious- 
Step-Mother  (i  700)  gives  to  court  intrigues  an  Oriental 
setting,  somewhat  in  the  fashion  of  heroic  tragedy, 
but  with  a  pathetic  appeal  in  the  self-sacrifice  of 
Cleone  which  recalls  Otway.  Betterton,  Mrs.  Brace- 
girdle,  and  Mrs.  Barry  gave  the  play  much  of  its  stage 
success.  Tamerlane  (1702),  the  tragedy  on  which, 
it  was  said,^  the  author  'valuM  himself  most,'  was 
helped  by  its  pohtical  intention.  The  hero  was  drawn 
to  suggest  William  III,  and  his  rival,  Bajazet,  to  sug- 
gest Louis  XIV.  Until  181 5,  it  was  played  annually 
at  Drury  Lane  on  5  November,  the  anniversary  of 
the  landing  of  William  III  and  of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot.  The  moralized  sentiments  of  the  hero  show  the 
stirrings  of  sentimental  drama. 

The  Fair  Penitent  (1703),  a  sentimental  adaptation 

*  James  Welwood,  Preface,  p.  xl,  to  Lucan's  Pharsalia;  Translated 
into  English  Verse,  by  Nicholas  Rowe,  1720  edition. 


174  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

from  The  Fatal  Dowry  by  Massinger  and  Field,  was 
one  of  the  most  successful  tragedies  of  the  eighteenth 
century.^  Doctor  Johnson  said,^  ^  There  is  scarcely 
any  work  of  any  poet  at  once  so  interesting  by  the 
fable  and  so  delightful  by  the  language.'  Like 
Otway's  Orphan  and  Southerners  Fatal  Marriage^ 
The  Fair  Penitent  is  essentially  a  dqanestic  tragedy. 
The  Prologue  shows  that  Rowe  was  deliberate  in  his 
choice  of  theme : 

Long  has  the  fate  of  kings  and  empires  been 
The  common  bus'ness  of  the  tragick  scene, 
As  if  misfortune  made  the  throne  her  seat, 
And  none  cou'd  be  unhappy  but  the  great. 


Stories  like  these  with  wonder  we  may  hear, 
But  far  remote,  and  in  a  higher  sphere, 
We  ne'er  can  pity  what  we  ne'er  can  share. 


w  Therefore  an  humbler  theme  our  author  chose, 
A  melancholy  tale  of  private  woes : 
No  princes  here  lost  royalty  bemoan, 
But  you  shall  meet  with  sorrows  like  your  own. 

Tragedy  becomes  not  merely  domestic,  but  moralized. 
Horatio  is  full  of  wise  saws  such  as  'To  be  good  is 
to  be  happy,'  and  'Guilt  is  the  source  of  sorrow.' ' 
In  a  concluding  speech  he  points  the  moral  in  a 
rhymed  tag  which  may  be  compared  with  the  last 
lines  in  Steele's  contemporary  comedy,  The  Lying 
Lover  (1703) : 

1  Genest  cites  more  than  a  score  of  revivals  up  to  1824. 
^  Lives  of  the  English  Poets,  Hill  edition,  1905,  II,  67. 
» III,  I,  98,  100. 


X  SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       175 

By  such  examples  are  we  taught  to  prove, 
The  sorrows  that  attend  unlawful  love ; 
Death,  or  some  worse  misfortunes,  soon  divide 
The  injur'd  bridegroom  from  his  guilty  bride : 
If  you  would  have  the  nuptial  union  last, 
Let  virtue  be  the  bond  that  ties  it  fast. 

Compared  with  its  Elizabethan  model,  The  Fatal 
Dowry,  by  Massinger  and  Field,  The  Fair  Penitent  is 
less  free  and  varied.  With  a  consciousness  of  French 
restrictions,  Rowe  reduces  the  characters  to  eight, 
condenses  the  time  of  action,  and  simplifies  the  action. 
This  simplification,  indeed,  is  carried  too  far.  Rowe 
begins  with  the  end  of  Massinger's  second  act,  and  has 
accordingly  to  give  in  the  first  part  of  the  play  too 
much  exposition  of  matter  which  Massinger  presents 
actually.  In  Massinger,  the  hero  dominates;  in 
Rowe,  the  villain.  Massinger's  heroine,  already  mar- 
ried, is  seduced  through  the  contrivance  of  a  serving- 
woman,  and  her  repentance  is  that  of  a  contrite  heart. 
Calista's  hot  passion  accounts  for  her  own  downfall, 
and  she  )delds  to  a  disgraceful  marriage  later.  Nor 
does  her  penitence  begin  until  she  is  found  out.  How- 
ever 'fair/  she  is  not  really  'penitent.'  The  father 
in  Massinger's  play  is  tender  and  full  of  anguish; 
Calista's  parent  is  a  Roman  father.  The  freedom 
and  vitality  of  the  Elizabethan  play  are  lacking  in 
Rowe's  work. 

The  Prologue  sets  forth  still  another  principle  of 
Rowe's  creed : 

Who  writes  shou'd  still  let  nature  be  his  care, 

Mix  shades  with  lights,  and  not  paint  all  things  fair, 

But  shew  you  men  and  women  as  they  are. 


176  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

It  is  somewhat  curious  that  Rowe,  whose  Lothario 
and  CaHsta  evidently  influenced  Richardson's  Lovelace 
and  Clarissa,  should  be  here  setting  forth  a  creed  that 
would  suit  Thackeray  better  than  Richardson.  To 
a  certain  extent  Rowe  may  be  said  to  have  succeeded 
in  his  attempt  to  blend  shade  with  light.  Altamont 
and  Horatio,  though  somewhat  icily  regular,  are  at 
least  not  faultily  faultless.  Lothario  has  the  courage 
of  his  vices  and  evidently  some  personal  magnetism. 
The  *  haughty,  gallant,  gay  Lothario'  —  as  Calista 
calls  him  in  the  fifth  act  —  has  achieved  the  rare 
distinction  of  a  place  among  those  characters  whose 
mere  names  connote  the  characterizing  epithet. 
Even  in  the  last  act,  when  the  villain  is  dead,  his  body 
dominates  the  sinister  scene.  The  'Scene  is  a  room 
himg  with  black;  on  one  side  Lothario's  body  on 
a  bier;  on  the  other  a  table  with  a  skull  and  other 
bones,  a  book,  and  a  lamp  on  it.  CaHsta  is  discover'd 
on  a  couch  in  black,  her  hair  hanging  loose  and  dis- 
ordered :  after  musick  and  a  song,  she  rises  and  comes 
forward.'  It  is  a  scene  that  points  backward  to  the 
Elizabethans,  and  forward  to  Joanna  Baillie's  imita- 
tions a  century  later. 
^,  In  the  next  years  Rowe's  dramatic  work  declines 
abruptly.  In  The^Biter  (1704),  he  encountered  his 
only  real  dramatic  failure.  Ulysses  (1705),^  a  classi- 
cal tragedy,  whose  story  Genest  conservatively  pro- 
nounces 'less  interesting'  than  Homer,  and  The 
Royal  Convert  (1707),  based  on  Hengist  and  early 
British  history,  abandon  the  Elizabethan  type.     In 

1  This  play  has  recently  been  assigned  to  1706,  but  Genest  gives 
the  first  performance,  23  November,  1705. 


X         SOME  /SPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       177 

1709,  Rowe  published  his  six- volume  edition  of 
Shakespeare,  with  a  biography  based  partly  on  ma- 
■pgfialcollected  by  Betterton,  with  Hsts  of  the  dramatis 
personcB  and  indications  of  exits  and  entrances,  and 
with  some  }evision  of  the  text  in  spelling  and 
punctuation.  It  was  the  first  critical  edition  of 
Shakespeare. 

The  study  of  Shakespeare  directly  influenced  Rowe's 
subsequent  dramatic  career,  lTx^Jane._Shqre  {i^ji^) 
and  Lady  Jane  Gray  (i 715),  he  strove  to  follow  Shake- 
speare. The  first  is  professedly  'Written  in  Imitation 
of  Shakespear's  Style.'  In  the  Prologue  to  The  Am- 
bitipuj.  Sup-Mother  he  had  already  delivered  the 
curious  verdict  that  Shakespeare  excelled  in  male 
characters  only : 

Shakespear,  whose  Genius  to  it  self  a  Law, 
Could  Men  in  every  Height  of  Nature  draw, 
And  copy'd  all  but  Women  that  he  saw. 

As  Dryden  had  hoped  to  refine  Shakespeare's  lan- 
guage, Rowe  seemingly  thought  to  supply  his  defi- 
ciency in  heroines.  At  least,  his  last  dramas  are,  to 
borrow  the  phrase  in  the  Epilogue  to  Jane  ShorCy 
'She- tragedies.'  His  imitation  of  Shakespeare  has 
been  regarded  by  some  as  merely  nominal.  Yet 
most  of  the  male  characters  of  Jane  Shore  figure  in 
Richard  III,  and  Gloster  himself,  though  reduced 
by  Rowe  to  a  subordinate  position,  shows  signs  of 
Shakespeare's  influence. 

In  comparison  with  The  Fair  Penitent,  Jane  Shore 
shows  dramatic  progress.  The  earlier  tragedy  de- 
pended largely  on  scenic  background  and  the  acces- 


178  ENGLISH  DRAMA  J  chap. 

sories  of  fertile  invention.  In  Jane  Shore  the  heroine 
is  a  true  penitent,  and  arouses  more  genuine  pity. 
The  appeal,  as  in  Otway,  is  largely  feminiK  e,  and  some- 
times Rowe  descends  to  mere  tameness.  Yet  the  hall- 
mark of  his  tragedies  is  refinement.  The  grossness 
of  the  elder  dramatists  gives  way  befor*^  an  impulse 
of  higher  tone.  His  verse  may  appeal  rather  to  the 
ear  than  to  the  heart,  his  sentiment  may  be  surcharged 
with  moralizing,  but  if  he  lacks  mascuHne  vigour  he 
is  at  least  free  from  animal  brutality. 

Rowe  is  the  dramatist  of  repentant  love.  Ad- 
mitting no  comic  relief,  and  ruling  himself  largely  in 
accordance  with  Gallic  restraint  and  convention, 
he  follows  to  a  large  extent  the  French  traditions. 
But  in  professing  to  imitate  Shakespeare,  and  in  cer- 
tainly following  Otway,  he  links  to  English  drama. 
Despite  his  laureateship,  he  lacked  genuine  poetic 
impulse.  He  could  touch  pity,  but  not  with  the  fer- 
vour of  poetic  passion.  As  a  dramatist  he  lacked  dif- 
ferentiation of  character.  Though  Richard  III  does 
not  have  the  characteristic  Shakespearean  develop- 
ment of  minor  characters,  it  is  only  necessary  to  com- 
pare the  historical  characters  in  Jane  Shore  with  those 
in  Richard  III  to  see  how  Rowe  omits  the  details 
which  are  the  charm,  not  merely,  as  Macaulay  says, 
of  biography,  but  also  of  drama.  With  all  his  de- 
fects, Rowe  holds  a  place  of  his  own  in  the  history  of 
English  tragedy.  His  most  important  plays  main- 
tained their  vitality  through  the  whole  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  and  well  into  the  nineteenth.  Garrick, 
Charles  Kemble,  Mrs.  Siddons,  Mrs.  Yates,  Kean, 
and  Macready  are  but  some  of  those  who  won  sue- 


X  SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN  ANNE  DRAMA       179 

cess  in  his  dramas.  The  best  of  them  were  translated 
into  French,  and  pubHshed  in  many  English  editions. 
Even  to-day,  when  his  tragedies  are  no  longer  familiar 
to  playgoers,  the  character  of  Lothario  has  not  lost 
its  individuality. 

The  Elizabethan  tendencies  of  Rowe's  later  plays 
should  not  be  mistaken  for  evidence  of  the  general 
state  of  drama.  The  sympathies  of  Queen  Anne 
critics  were  habitually  with  classical  precept  and  prac- 
tice. The  powerful  influence  of  Addison  was  felt  in 
the  direction  of  dramatic  rule  and  regularity.  Rowe 
himself,  in  restricting  characters  and  action  and  ex- 
cluding comedy,  follows  largely  Continental  examples. 
The  direct  influence  of  Racine  upon  English  tragedy 
appears  in  Edmund  Smith's  Phcedra  and  Hip  poly  tus 
(1707),^  modelled  on  Phedre,  and  Ambrose  Philips 's 
Distrest  Mother  (17 12),  a  slightly  modified  translation 
of  A  ndromaque.  Addison  wrote  a  prologue  for  the  first 
and  an  epilogue  for  the  second,  while  Steele's  com- 
ments in  The  Spectator  increased  the  vogue  of  The 
Distrest  Mother.  PhiKps  doubtless  owed  much  of  his 
initial  success  to  the  popular  tone  of  moralizing 
sentiment,  but  in  following  Racine  he  contributed 
to  the  strengthening  of  classical  influences. 

A  conspicuous  triumph  for  classical  drama  was  won 
by  Joseph  Addison  (1672-1719)  in  Cato  (17 13).  Like 
Dry  den,  Addison  had  critical  t^ste  rather  than  natural 
dramatic  instinct.  Like  both  Dry  den  and  Steele, 
he  felt  the  force  of  the  theatrical  tide.  No  stronger 
evidence  of  the  continued  hold  of  the  drama  need  be 

*The  date,  1706,  recently  given  by  several  critics,  seems  to  over- 
look Genest,  II,  368,  who  says,  21  April,  1707. 


l8o  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

sought  than  in  the  long  line  of  masters  of  other  forms 
of  literature  who  have  become  servants  for  a  time  of 
drama.  Perhaps  only  the  Elizabethan  age  found 
its  natural  and  characteristic  expression  in  drama. 
Yet  the  critical  essayists  of  the  Queen  Anne  period 
and  the  creative  poets  of  the  Victorian  alike  felt  the 
same  magnet.  Addison's  opera,  Rosamond,  and  his 
feeble  comedy,  The  Drummer  (1716),  though  failures, 
show  his  attempts  to  win  the  applause  of  the  theatre. 
Not  even  the  signal  and  continued  stage  success  of 
Cato  can  disguise  the  fact  that  Addison's  genius  was 
non-dramatic.  Addison  was  the  Spectator  who  saw 
the  outside  rather  than  the  heart.  He  is  without 
the  dramatist's  impulse  to  animate  character  into 
action.  Sir  Roger  de  Cover  ley  might  possibly  have 
been  the  hero  of  a  character  novel,  but  hardly  of  a 
drama.  The  stage  triumph  of  Cato  may  have  seemed 
an  effective  answer  to  Pope's  advice  to  Addison  to 
have  the  play  printed  rather  than  acted ;  but  Pope's 
judgment  was  wiser  perhaps  than  he  knew. 

Much  of  Addison's  unquestionable  influence  upon 
English  drama  must  be  sought  in  his  critical  work. 
Though  in  at  least  one  striking  passage  ^  he  puts 
Shakespeare's  genius  above  artificial  restraints,  Addi- 
son was  at  heart  a  confirmed  classicist.  He  had  the 
French  fondness  for  the  unities,  the  distaste  for  tragi- 
comedy,^ the  disUke  not  merely  of  stage  violence  but 
of  excess  of  emotional  appeal.^  Yet  in  banishing 
excess  of  emotion,  Addison  came  dangerously  near 

»  The  Spectator,  No.  592. 
2  Ibid.,  No.  40. 
»/W<i.,No.44. 


X         SOME  ASPECTS  OF  QUEEN   ANNE  DRAMA       i8l 

banishing  emotion  itself.  He  saw  the  absurdities  of 
Nicolini  and  the  Lion,  and  of  'painted  dragons  spitting 
wildfire,  enchanted  chariots  drawn  by  Flanders  mares, 
and  real  cascades  in  artificial  landskips'^-in  Handel's 
Rinaldo,  but  not  the  artificiaHty  of  his  own  Romans. 
Rant  he  calls  one  of  'the  blemishes,  or  rather  the 
false  beauties,  of  our  English  tragedy/  ^  Yet  Doctor 
Johnson  said  ^  that  the  success  of  Cato  induced  '  the 
use  of  dialogue  too  declamatory,  of  unaffecting  ele- 
gance, and  chill  philosophy.' 

Cato  is  an  appeal  to  the  reason.  Cato  and  his  com- 
panions, like  Plato,  reason  well.  But  they  remain 
abstractions  of  thought,  rather  than  living  personal- 
ities. Cato  has  the  chill  of  a  statue,  a  Galatea  without 
the  touch  of  Hf e  that  permits  descent  from  the  pedestal. 
As  Doctor  Johnson  says,^  'It  is  rather  a  poem  in 
dialogue  than  a  drama,  rather  a  succession  of  just 
sentiments  in  elegant  language  than  a  representation 
of  natural  affections,  or  of  any  state  probable 
or  possible  in  human  Hfe  ....  The  events  are 
expected  without  solicitude,  and  are  remembered 
without  joy  or  sorrow.' 

Despite  Pope's  fear  that  Cato  was  a  closet  rather 
than  an  acting  drama,  circumstances  combined  to  make 
it  a  great  success.  In  Doctor  Johnson's  familiar 
words,^  'The  Whigs  applauded  every  line  in  which 
Liberty  was  mentioned,  as  a  satire  on  the  Tories; 
and  the  Tories  echoed  every  clap,  to  shew  that  the 
satire  was  unfelt.'    Yet  its  success  did  not  rest  wholly 

1  The  Spectator,  No.  5.  2  /j^.^  ^o.  40. 

*  Lives  of  the  English  Poets,  Hill  edition,  1905,  II,  133. 

*Ibid.,  II,  132.  ^Ibid.,  II,  loo-ioi. 


l82  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  x 

on  local  politics.  It  was  translated  into  Italian, 
French,  and  German.  Voltaire  hailed  it  as  a  master- 
piece, and  called  its  author  'The  first  English  Writer 
who  composed  a  regular  Tragedy  [tragedie  raisonnahle] 
and  infus'd  a  Spirit  of  Elegance  thro'  every  Part  of 
it.'  ^  The  classicists  had,  indeed,  scant  reason  for 
complaint.  The  action  takes  place  in  'a  large  Hall  in 
the  Governor's  Palace  of  Utica,'  the  time  is  confined 
to  '  the  great,  th'  important  Day ;  big  with  the  Fate  Of 
Cato  and  of  Rome,'  and  the  interest  centres  in  Cato. 
Death  occurs  off  the  stage  in  the  case  of  Marcus, 
while  it  is  again  off  the  stage  that  Cato  runs  on  his 
sword,  though  he  is  brought  in  dying.  There  are 
feeble  attempts  at  local  colour,  but  Addison's  Numid- 
ian  touches  suggest  no  more  than  Dryden's  faint  Span- 
ish and  Oriental  settings.  Everywhere  the  chill  of 
death  seems  to  rest.  The  characters  are  benumbed 
in  action  and  constrained  in  expression.  Even  the 
passages  that  are  commonplaces  of  quotation  suffer 
from  want  of  vital  feeling.  It  is  a  striking  commen- 
tary on  the  artificiality  of  the  Queen  Anne  age  that  the 
cold  formality  of  Cato  kindled  the  fires  of  party  spirit. 
In  the  Prologue,  Pope  had  sought  to  rally  support 
for  the  native  English  drama : 

Our  Scene  precariously  subsists  too  long 
On  French  Translation,  and  Italian  Song. 
Dare  to  have  Sense  your  selves ;  Assert  the  Stage ; 
Be  justly  warm'd  with  your  own  Native  Rage. 

Yet  Cato  in  reality  chilled  the  *  native  rage'  of  English 
tragedy  with  the  classical  restraints  of  Continental 
drama. 

^Letters  concerning  the  English  Nation  (translated),  1733,  p.  178. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PANTOMIME  AND  BALLAD   OPERA 

Cato  was  a  temporary  triumph,  not  a  permanent 
victory,  for  the  cause  of  classical  drama.  The  ap- 
pearance of  Rowe's  Jane  Shore,  in  the  following  year, 
showed  that  the  Elizabethan  tradition  had  not  been 
forgotten.  Year  after  year,  the  chief  Shakespearean 
tragedies  continued  to  hold  the  boards,  and  revivals 
of  other  Elizabethan  plays  were  frequent.  During 
the  Drury  Lane  winter  season  of  1713-1714  there  were 
productions  of  The  Tempest  and  of  Henry  IV,  Part  I, 
of  Ben  Jonson's  Volpone,  Bartholomew  Fair,  The  Silent 
Woman,  and  The  Alchemist,  of  Beaumont  and  Flet- 
cher's Philaster,  and  of  Fletcher's  Humorous  Lieuten- 
ant. Yet,  if  the  French  classical  influence  upon  Eng- 
hsh  drama  of  the  period  has  often  been  exaggerated, 
there  is  no  reason  for  underestimating  its  real  impor- 
tance. The  great  success  of  Philips  in  The  Distrest 
Mother  stimulated  other  translations  of  Racine  and 
of  Corneille.  Among  them  were  CoUey  Gibber's 
Heroic  Daughter,  or  Ximena  (17 12),  an  adaptation  of 
Le  Cid,  anna's  Conspiracy  (17 13),  a  free  rendering 
of  Corneille's  Cinna,  and  versions  of  Racine's  I  phi- 
genie.  Thus  the  long  strife  between  French  theory 
and  English  practice  was  maintained  on  the  English 
stage  with  almost  incessant  fluctuations  in  the  tide  of 
battle.    In  point  of  fact,  the  actual  dramatic  product 

183 


184  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chaJ. 

V-was  often  an  unconscious  compromise  between  two 
extremes.  Rowe,  who  confessedly  imitated  Shake- 
speare's style,  had  the  French  disHke  for  tragi-comedy 
and  usually  observed  the  French  restraint  as  to  scope 
of  action  and  number  of  characters.  Translators 
and  followers  of  French  dramatic  models  did  not 
escape  the  influence  of  English  sentimental  drama. 
Even  the  most  conspicuous  classical  triumphs  of 
Philips  and  Addison  were  founded  on  the  distresses 
of  the  heroine  and  the  moralized  sentiments  of  the 
hero. 

In  the  first  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century,  regular 
drama  had  found  a  formidable  rival  in  ItaHan  opera.  ^ 
With  the  second  decade,  there  came  into  prominence 
a  still  more  powerful  rival  —  English  pantomime.  "^ 
The  traditional  account  of  its  origin  should  not,  oT 
course,  he  held  to  imply  that  Enghsh  pantomime 
sprang  full-fledged  from  the  head  of  John  Rich  (1682  ?- 
1 761).  Pantomimic  action  of  a  sort  had  long  been 
known  on  the  English  stage.  The  ^dumb-shows' 
which  Hamlet  found  inexplicable'  had  been  intro- 
duced in  Gorboduc,  the  first  English  tragedy.  Masque, 
opera,  and  spectacle  had,  during  the  Restoration 
period,  developed  to  a  notable  degree  scenic  and  me- 
chanical effects.  Mrs.  Behn  had  introduced  a  Harle- 
quin in  her  Emperor  of  the  Moon  (1687).  Yet,  in  the 
adaptation  to  his  own  purposes  of  earlier  stage  proper- 
ties and  devices  and  in  the  creation  of  his  own  novel- 
ties, John  Rich  is  fairly  entitled  to  credit  for  original- 
ity. Even  if  one  were  to  accept  CoUey  Gibber's 
questionable  ascription  of  the  origin  of  pantomime 
to  John  Weaver's  Drury  Lane  production  of  The 


XI  PANTOMIME  AND  BALLAD  OPERA  185 

Loves  of  Mars  and  Venus  (1716  or  1717),^  Rich  may 
be  said  to  have  formulated  the  popular  type. 

Gibber  recounts^  how,  when  our  ^English  Musick 
had  been  so  discountenanced  since  the  Taste  of 
Italian  Operas  prevail'd/  his  company  decided  to 
exploit  dancing,  a  feature  that  had  been  popular  at 
the  rival  theatre.  ^To  give  even  Dancing  therefore 
some  Improvement,  and  to  make  it  something  more 
than  Motion  without  Meaning,  the  Fable  of  Mars 
and  Venus  was  form'd  into  a  connected  Presentation 
of  Dances  in  Character,  wherein  the  Passions  were  so 
happily  expressed,  and  the  whole  Story  so  intelHgibly 
told  by  a  mute  Narration  of  Gesture  only,  that  even 
thinking  Spectators  allow'd  it  both  a  pleasing  and 
a  rational  Entertainment.  .  .  .  From  this  original 
Hint  then  (but  every  way  unequal  to  it)  sprung  forth 
that  Succession  of  monstrous  Medlies  that  have  so 
long  infested  the  Stage.'  Reluctantly  Gibber  goes  on 
to  confess  his  own  share  in  '  these  Fooleries, '  but  adds : 
^Notwithstanding,  then,  this  our  Gompliance  with 
the  vulgar  Taste,  we  generally  made  use  of  these 
Pantomimes  but  as  Grutches  to  our  weakest  Plays: 
Nor  were  we  so  lost  to  all  Sense  of  what  was  valuable 
as  to  dishonour  our  best  Authors  in  such  bad  Com- 
pany: We  had  still  a  due  Respect  to  several  select 
Plays  that  were  able  to  be  their  own  Support ;  and  in 
which  we  found  our  constant  Account,  without 
painting  and  patching  them  out,  Hke  Prostitutes,  with 
these  Follies  in  fashion.' 

1  The  earlier  date  is  claimed  by  Weaver.    See  his  History  of  the 
Mimes  and  Pantomimes,  1728,  p.  46. 
^Apology,  II,  179  flf. 


l86  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

The  obvious  inference  from  CoUey  Cibber*s  account 
is  that  the  ^original  hint*  for  English  pantomime 
is  to  be  found  in  The  Loves  of  Mars  and  Venus j  John 
Weaver's  Drury  Lane  entertainment.  Weaver  was  a 
noted  dancing  master,  who,  according  to  Biographia 
Dramatica,  'also  wrote  several  judicious  books,  which 
show  that  a  head  was  not  wanting  to  his  heels.' 
Among  half  a  dozen  treatises  concerned  with  the  art 
of  dancing  is  a  work  entitled  The  History  of  the  Mimes 
and  Pantomimes,^  which  includes  'A  List  of  the  Mod- 
ern Entertainments  that  have  been  Exhibited  on  the 
English  Stage;  either  in  Imitation  of  the  Ancient 
Pantomimes,  or  after  the  Manner  of  the  Modern  Ital- 
ians.^ If  his  own  testimony  is  to  be  accepted,  he 
must  be  credited  with  a  considerable  part  in  the 
stage  history  of  his  day.  He  styles  his  Loves  of  Mars 
and  Venus  'an  Attempt  in  Imitation  of  the  ancient 
Pantomimes,  and  the  first  of  that  kind  that  has  ap- 
peared since  the  Time  of  the  Roman  Emperors.* 
Much  earUer  than  this,  however,  was  his  production, 
in  1702,  of  The  Tavern _ Bilkers.  This  he  terms  'the 
first  Entertainment  that  appeared  on  the  English 
Stage,  where  the  Representation  and  Story  was  car- 
ried on  by  Dancing,  Action  and  Motion  only.'  The 
various  entertainments  produced  by  Weaver  seem,  at 
least,  forerunners  of  Rich's  more  conspicuous  successes. 

At  all  events,  the  essential  credit  —  or  discredit,  as 
Gibber  would  have  held  it  —  for  establishing  Enghsh 
pantomime  thoroughly  in  popular  favour  belongs  to 
Rich.    He  had  no  more  scruples  than  his  father  in 

1  Printed  1728.  The  'List'  occupies  pp.  43-56.  For  quotations, 
see  pp.  45-46. 


XI  PANTOMIME   AND   BALLAD  OPERA  187 

complying  with  'the  vulgar  taste.'  Recognizing  that 
his  theatrical  gift  lay  rather  in  mimicry  than  in  spoken 
dialogue,  he  was  clever  enough  to  make  capital  out 
of  the  very  Hmitation  of  his  talent.  Acting  habitually 
under  the  name  of  'Lun,'  Rich  made  Harlequin  an 
actual  pantomimic  part,  but  with  Rich  actions  spoke 
louder  than  words.  Of  the  general  character  of  his 
pantomimes  sufficient  indication  may  be  found  in  the 
prose  of  Thomas  Davies  and  the  verse  of  Pope. 
Davies,  who  credits  Rich  with  the  creation  of  pan- 
tomime, gives ^  this  description  of  it:  'It  consisted  of 
two  parts,  one  serious,  and  the  other  comic :  by  the 
help  of  gay  scenes,  fine  habits,  grand  dances,  appro- 
priated music,  and  other  decorations,  he  exhibited  a 
story  from  Ovid's  Metamorphosis  [sic],  or  some  other 
fabulous  writer.  Between  the  pauses  or  acts  of  this 
serious  representation,  he  interwove  a  comic  fable, 
consisting  chiefly  of  the  courtship  of  Harlequin  and 
Columbine,  with  a  variety  of  surprising  adventures 
and  tricks,  which  were  produced  by  the  magic  wand 
of  Harlequin ;  such  as  the  sudden  transformation  of 
palaces  and  temples  to  huts  and  cottages ;  of  men  and 
women  into  wheel-barrows  and  joint-stools ;  of  trees 
turned  to  houses;  colonades  to  beds  of  tulips;  and 
mechanics  shops  into  serpents  and  ostriches.'  The 
familiar  lines  in  Pope's  Dunciad  (iii,  233  ff.)  may 
supplement  this  account: 

[He]  look'd,  and  saw  a  sable  Sorc'rer  rise, 
Swift  to  whose  hand  a  winged  volume  flies : 
All  sudden,  Gorgons  hiss,  and  Dragons  glare. 
And  ten-horn'd  fiends  and  Giants  rush  to  war. 

*  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrick,  *  New  Edition,'  1780, 1,  92. 


l88  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Hell  rises,  Heav'n  descends,  and  dance  on  Earth, 
Gods,  imps,  and  monsters,  music,  rage,  and  mirth, 
A  fire,  a  jig,  a  battle,  and  a  ball. 
Till  one  wide  conflagration  swallows  all. 

Thence  a  new  world,  to  Nature's  laws  unknown, 
Breaks  out  refulgent,  with  a  heav'n  its  own : 
Another  Cynthia  her  new  journey  runs, 
And  other  planets  circle  other  suns. 
The  forests  dance,  the  rivers  upward  rise, 
Whales  sport  in  woods,  and  dolphins  in  the  skies ; 
And  last,  to  give  the  whole  creation  grace, 
Lo  !  one  vast  Egg  produces  human  race. 

This  last  line  is  a  definite  allusion  to  Rich's  famous 
trick  of  '  the  hatching  of  Harlequin  by  the  heat  of  the 
sun.'  Jackson,  in  his  History  of  the  Scottish  Stage,^ 
describes  this  'master-piece  in  dumb-shew.  From 
the  first  chipping  of  the  egg,  his  receiving  motion, 
his  feeling  the  ground,  his  standing  upright,  to  his 
quick  Harlequin  trip  round  the  empty  shell,  through 
the  whole  progression,  every  limb  had  its  tongue,  and 
every  motion  a  voice,  which  "  spoke  with  most  mirac- 
ulous organ,"  to  the  understandings  and  sensations 
of  the  observers.' 

The  success  of  the  pantomimes  led  the  Patent 
Theatres  to  rival  each  other.  In  1723,  Thurmond's 
elaborate  Drury  Lane  pantomime,  Harlequin  Dr. 
Faustus,  was  offset  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  by  Rich's 
Necromancer,  or  the  History  of  Dr.  Faustus.  The 
theatres  advanced  their  prices  on  pantomime  nights, 
and  their  receipts  from  such  performances  doubled 
those  from  regular  drama.^    Davies  declares^  'that  of 

1  pp.  367-368. 

2  Genest,  III,  158. 

» Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrickf  I,  93. 


XI  PANTOMIME  AND   BALLAD   OPERA  189 

all  the  pantomimes  which  Rich  brought  on  the  stage, 
from  the  Harlequin  Sorcerer,  in  the  year  171 7,  to  the 
last  which  was  exhibited  a  year  before  his  death 
[1761]  .  .  .  there  was  scarce  one  which  failed  to 
please  the  pubHc,  who  testified  their  approbation 
of  them  forty  or  fifty  nights  successively.'  Hence- 
forth, pantomime  was  firmly  established  on  the 
English  stage. 

Not  content  with  his  popular  triumphs  in  pan- 
tomime, Rich  introduced  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields 
another  powerful  rival  to  regular  drama.  In  The 
Beggar's  Opera  (1728),  John  Gay  (168 5-1 732)  achieved 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  stage  triumphs  in  English 
dramatic  history.  'The  vast  Success  of  that  new 
Species  of  Drama  tick  Poetry'  was,  to  CoUey  Gibber,^ 
further  proof  of  'the  vulgar  taste.'  ^Cato,'  he  wrote, 
'succeeded,  but  reach'd  not,  by  full  forty  Days,  the 
Progress  and  Applauses  of  the  Beggars  Opera.^  In 
another  passage,^  he  declared  that  'if  the  Judgment 
of  the  Growd  were  infallible:  I  am  afraid  we  shall 
be  reduc'd  to  allow  that  the  Beggars  Opera  was  the 
best-written  Play  .  .  .  that  ever  our  English  Theatre 
had  to  boast  of.'  Yet  even  Gibber  admits  that  'that 
Gritick,  indeed,  must  be  rigid  to  a  Folly  that  would 
deny  .  .  .  due  Praise'  to  such  extraordinary  success. 
The  opera  that  'made  Gay  rich  and  Rich  gay'  had 
over  sixty  performances  during  the  season.^    It  was 

» Apology,  I,  243,  245. 

^  The  note  in  The  Dunciad  (iii,  330),  that  it  was  'acted  in  London 
sixty-three  days,  uninterrupted/  helps  to  explain  frequent  misstate- 
ments as  to  the  continuous  run  of  the  piece.  See  Genest,  III,  222, 
227-228. 


igo  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

the  talk  of  the  town ;  its  scenes  and  verses  were  repre- 
sented on  fans;  its  songs  were  sung  everywhere; 
Lavinia  Fenton,  who  bewitched  the  town  in  the  part 
of  Polly  Peachum,  ended  by  running  away  with  the 
Duke  of  Bolton.  ^We  are  as  full  of  it/  wrote  Swift  ^ 
from  Dublin,  It  pro  modulo  nostrojas  London  can  be; 
continually  acting,  and  Houses  crammed,  and  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  several  times  there  laughing  his 
Heart  out.' 

Gay's  great  triumph  came  after  some  theatrical 
experience.  Dissatisfied  with  the  trade  of  mercer  to 
which  he  had  been  apprentice,  he  finally  determined^ 
to  follow  his  literary  tastes.  His  tragi-comi-pas- 
toral  farce,  What-d'ye-call-it  (17 15)  ridiculed  popular 
tragedies,  especially  Venice  Preserved,  in  the  general 
fashion  of  The  Rehearsal.  Pope  and  Arbuthnot 
assisted  him  in  the  mediocre  farce,  Three  Hours  after 
Marriage  (17 17).  The  publication  of  two  volumes  of 
poems,  in  1720,  was  an  index  of  much  higher  gifts. 

The  germ  of  the  idea  of  The  Beggar^s  Opera  has 
usually  been  held  to  be  a  passage  in  Swift's  letter^  to 
Pope,  30  August  1 71 6:  'I  believe  .  .  .  the  Pastoral 
Ridicule  is  not  exhausted;  and  that  a  Porter,  Foot- 
man, or  Chair-man's  pastoral  might  do  well.  Or  what 
think  you  of  a  Newgate  Pastoral  ? '  Later,  when  the 
suggestion  came  to  Gay,  he  utilized  the  Newgate 
setting  but  preferred  operatic  drama  to  pastoral. 
According  to  Pope,  Swift  at  first  'did  not  much  like 
the  project.  As  he  [Gay]  carried  it  on,  he  showed 
what  he  wrote  to  both  of  us ;  and  we  now  and  then 

^Dean  Swiff  s  Literary  Correspondence,  1741,  p.  65. 
*  Ibid.f  pp.  9-10. 


XI  PANTOMIME  AND  BALLAD  OPERA  191 

gave  a  correction,  or  a  word  or  two  of  advice,  but  it 
was  wholly  of  his  own  writing.  When  it  was  done, 
neither  of  us  thought  it  would  succeed.  We  showed 
it  to  Congreve,  who,  after  reading  it  over,  said,  "It 
would  either  take  greatly,  or  be  damned  confound- 
edly.'" ^ 

It  was  by  no  means  wholly  the  novelty  of  a  New- 
gate opera  that  made  the  success  of  The  Beggar^s 
Opera.  Gay  skilfully  satirized  courtiers  and  pohti- 
cians,  in  particular.  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  ^  Gay,'  wrote 
William  Cooke,^  'by  frequently  comparing  highway- 
men to  courtiers,  and  mixing  other  political  allusions, 
drew  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  character  of 
Sir  Robert  Walpole,  then  Prime  Minister,  who,  like 
most  other  Prime  Ministers,  had  a  strong  party 
against  him,  who  constantly  took  care  to  make  or  find 
a  comparison  between  the  two  characters  .  .  .  The 
first  song  was  thought  to  point  to  him  —  The  name  of 
Bob  Booty,  whenever  mentioned,  again  raised  the  laugh 
against  him :  and  the  quarrelling  scene  between 
Peachum  and  Lockit,  was  so  well  understood  at  that 
time  to  allude  to  a  recent  quarrel  between  the  two 
Ministers,  Lord  Townshend  and  Sir  Robert,  that  the 
House  was  in  convulsions  of  applause.'  Swift 
wrote,  'We  hear  a  Million  of  Stories  about  the  Opera, 
of  the  Applause  at  the  Song,  That  was  levelled  at  me, 
when  two  great  Ministers  were  in  a  Box  together, 
and  all  the  World  staring  at  them.'^  In  other  quar- 
ters. Gay's  burlesque  was  seriously  taken  to  heart. 

^  Spence,  Anecdotes,  Malone  edition,  1820,  p.  136. 
2  Memoirs  of  Charles  Macklin,  1804,  pp.  53-55. 
^Dean  SwijVs  Literary  Correspondence,  1741,  p.  66. 


192  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

It  was  reprehended  as  '  the  most  venemous  allegorical 
libel  against  the  Government  that  hath  appeared  for 
many  years.  .  .  .  The  satirical  strokes  upon  Minis- 
ters, Courtiers,  and  great  Men,  in  general,  abound  in 
every  Part  of  this  most  insolent  Performance.'  ^  In 
popularizing  political  satire  on  the  English  stage  Gay 
prepared  the  way  for  Fielding. 

^  The  satire  of  The  Beggar's  Opera  extended  not 
merely  to  contemporary  politics  and  society  but  to 
Italian  opera  and  sentimental  drama.  In  the  Intro- 
duction, the  Beggar,  who  gives  his  name  to  the  opera, 
in  presenting  his  piece  to  the  Player,  says :  '  I  have 
introduc'd  the  Similes  that  are  in  all  your  celebrated 
Operas:  The  Swallow,  the  Moth,  the  Bee,  the  Ship, 
the  Flower,  &c.  Besides,  I  have  a  Prison  Scene  which 
the  Ladies  always  reckon  charmingly  pa  the  tick.' 
Perhaps  Gay  had  in  mind  the  sentimental  scene  in 
Newgate  prison  which  opens  the  last  act  of  Steele's 
Lying  Lover.  The  double  ending  to  Gay's  work  is  a 
palpable  hit  at  the  conventional  happy  ending  of 
sentimental  drama  and  opera.  Captain  Macheath, 
confronted  with  an  embarrassment  of  wives,  gives 
himself  up  in  despair  to  the  ofhcers.  Hereupon  the 
Player  tells  the  Beggar  that  this  will  never  do,  for 
'  this  is  a  down-right  deep  Tragedy.  The  Catastrophe 
is  manifestly  wrong,  for  an  Opera  must  end  happily.' 
The  Beggar  admits  that  the  objection  'is  very  just; 
and  is  easily  remov'd.  For  you  must  allow,  that  in 
this  kind  of  Drama,  'tis  no  matter  how  absurdly  things 
are  brought  about.  —  So  —  you  Rabble  there  —  run 

^  Watson  Nicholson,  The  Struggle  for  a  Free  Stage  in  London,  pp. 
49-So. 


XI  PANTOMIME  AND  BALLAD   OPERA  193 

and  cry  a  Reprieve — let  the  Prisoner  be  brought  back 
to  his  Wives  in  Triumph.'  Then  adds  the  Player : 
*  All  this  we  must  do,  to  comply  with  the  Taste  of  the 
Town.'  But  the  Beggar  rejoins,  'Had  the  Play  re- 
main'd,  as  I  at  first  intended,  it  would  have  carried 
a  most  excellent  Moral.  'Twould  have  shown  that  the 
lower  Sort  of  People  have  their  Vices  in  a  degree  as 
well  as  the  Rich:  And  that  they  are  punish' d  for 
them.'  No  such  excuse,  however,  could  shield  Gay 
from  the  serious  attack  of  some  solemn  moralists. 
Sir  John  Fielding  assured  Hugh  Kelly  '  that  ever  since 
the  first  representation  of  this  piece,  there  had  been, 
on  every  successful  run,  a  proportionate  number  of 
highwaymen  brought  to  the  office,'  ^  and  showed  him 
the  books  by  way  of  proof.  To  the  same  effect  runs 
the  testimony  of  Oulton^  to  its  'immoral  tendency: 
as  it  was  never  played  without  encreasing  the  number 
of  thieves  about  this  metropolis.'     li  r   '  '  ^ 

The  vein  of  social  satire  successfully  exploited  in 
The  Beggar^ s  Opera  was  deepened  in  its  sequel,  Polly. 
Its  stage  production  was  prohibited  by  the  Lord 
Chamberlain,  but  the  printed  version  attracted  wide 
attention.  Gay's  Beggar  had  found  it  'difficult  to 
determine  whether  (in  the  fashionable  Vices)  the  fine 
Gentlemen  imitate  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Road,  or 
the  Gentlemen  of  the  Road  the  fine  Gentlemen.'  In 
Polly y  Captain  Macheath  and  his  pirates  move  amid 
the  corruptions  of  West  Indian  society,  where  the 
'poor  Indian'  is  exalted  into  the  'noble  savage.'  The 
revolt  against  the  taint  of  European  civilization  some- 

^  Cooke,  Memoirs  of  Charles  MackUn,  p.  64. 
2  History  of  the  Theatres  of  London,  1796, 1,  25. 
o 


194  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  xi 

what  suggests  the  passing  mood  of  some  stanzas 
in  Locksley  Hall,  but  with  Gay  the  mood  never 
settles  down  to  Tennyson's  conclusion.  If  it  were 
possible  to  accept  as  a  serious  social  creed  Gay's 
satire  of  society,  it  might  be  held  to  exhibit  some  fore- 
shadowings  of  Rousseau's  doctrines.  But  the  sceva 
indignatio  which  had  just  fired  Swift's  Gullive/s 
Travels  (1726)  had  only  a  mock  echo  in  Gay.  If  Gay 
be  concluded  to  have  brought  an  indictment  against 
the  corruptions  of  civilized  society,  he  was  content 
to  have  the  case  laughed  out  of  court.  ' 

The  Beggar^s  Opera  entitles  Gay  to  a  permanent 
place  in  the  history  of  English  drama.  Its  ridicule 
of  absurdities  of  sentimental  drama  and  opera  con- 
tinues the  vein  of  his  earlier  piece,  What-d^ye-call-it, 
and  points  toward  such  dramatic  burlesques  as 
Fielding's  Tom  Thumb [smd  Carey's  Chrononhotontho- 
logos.  I  Its  political  satire  anticipates  Fielding's  farces. 
In  introducing  'ballad  opera,'  it  set  a  popular  fashion 
which  Sheridan  was  ready  to  follow  in  The  Duenna. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Voltaire's  influence  and  bourgeois  tragedy 

The  course  of  regular  English  drama  during  the 
early  Georgian  period  did  not  run  smooth.  Against 
such  powerful  rivals  as  pantomime  and  ballad 
opera,  comedy  and  tragedy  struggled  somewhat 
unsteadily.  CoUey  Gibber's  N on- Juror  (17 17),  Mrs. 
Gentlivre's  A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife  (17 18),  Steele's 
Conscious  Lovers  (1722),  and  Gibber's  Provoked 
Husband  (1728),  a  completed  version  of  Vanbrugh's 
unfinished  Journey  to  London,  may  serve  to  suggest 
the  less  serious  types  of  drama.  The  development 
of  tragedy  may  be  noted  in  the  works  of  some  drama- 
tists not  hitherto  discussed. 

Edward  Young  (1683-1765),  whose  poetic  power 
culminated,  miicli  later,  in  Night  Thoughts,  produced 
in  Busiris  (1719),  a  successful  blank- verse  tragedy,  ^ 
and  in  The  Revenge,  a  tragedy  which  held  the  stage 
for  a  century.  A  third  tragedy.  The  Brothers,  whose 
stage  production  had  been  abandonedT^on  account  of 
the  author's  religious  scruples  when  he  took  orders, 
had  a  belated  production,  in  1753,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gk>spel. 
In  the  picturesque  accounts^  of  the  disputes  between 
author   and   actors    over    the   performance,    Yoimg  • 

1  Dr.  Doran,  *  Their  Majesties  Servants ^^  Annals  of  the  English 
Stage,  Lowe  edition,  II,  161-163. 


196  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

is  said  to  have  protested  against  an  objection  to  what 
he  regarded  as  the  most  forcible  line  in  the  drama  — 
*I  will  speak  to  you  in  thunder/  At  all  events,  the 
line  might  well  have  been  his  dramatic  motto.  The 
violent  action  and  swelling  phrases  of  Busiris  needed 
little  heightening  when  Fielding  set  himself  to  travesty 
them  in  his  burlesque  tragedy,  Tom  Thumb.  Young 
has  often  been  said  to  follow  French  models,  but  the 
violence  and  bloodshed  of  his  dramas  reflect  the 
freedom  of  the  EngHsh  stage  rather  than  the  restraint 
of  classical  tragedy.  The  Revenge,  in  its  endeavour  to 
portray  'the  tumults  of  a  GodUke  mind,'  suggests 
the  heroic  tragedy  of  the  Restoration,  while  the 
conception  of  Zanga,  the  Moor,  is  doubtless  drawn  in 
part  from  lago.  The  coarse  epilogues  to  Young's 
plays  recall,  likewise,  a  practice  of  the  earher  English 
stage  which  had  survived  CoUier's  attacks  upon  the 
immorality  of  the  theatre.     There  is,  then,  marked 

V  kinship  between  Young's  tragedies  and  earlier  English 
drama.  Judged  independently  as  a  dramatist.  Young 
has,  in  general,  violence,  rather  than  vigour,  of  action, 
and  heat,  without  warmth,  of  dramatic  utterance. 

John  Hughes  (167 7-1 720),  who  had  acquired 
litera^r*recognitibn  by  papers  in  The  Taller  and 
The  Speclalor,  and  had  produced  an  opera.  Calypso 
and  Telemachus  (17 12),  won  on  the  very  night  of 
his  death  genuine  dramatic  success  with  The  Siege 

V-  o£Damascus  (1720).  Both  Swift  and  Pope  regarHeH 
him  as  "a"  mediocre  writer  in  prose  and  verse  ahke, 
but  a  certain  dignity  of  style  and  setting  may  partly 
justify  Buncombe's  commendatory  lines  on  The  Siege 
of  Damascus: 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  I97 

No  modern  phrases  in  these  scenes  appear, 
Antiquity's  more  noble  dress  they  wear. 

While  Young  inclined  largely  toward  English 
dramatic  models,  James  Thomson  (i  700-1 748) 
lent  the  influence  oFTiis  poetic  reputation  won  in 
The  Seasons  to  the  cause  of  classical  tragedy.  In 
SoJ^hpnisha  (1730),  classical  simpHcity  of  plot  is 
deadened  by  ponderous  phrase.  Massinissa's  in- 
vocation, *0h,  Sophonisba,  Sophonisba,  oh,'  is 
remembered  because  of  its  waggish  perversion  to 
*0h.  Jemmy  Thomson,  Jemmy  Thomson,  oh,'  and 
by  Fielding's  parody  in  Tom  Thumb,  '  Oh  !  Hunca- 
munca,  Huncamunca,  oh  ! '  Yet  Mrs.  Oldfield,  as  hero- 
ine,  succeeded  for  a  time  in  commanding  applause. 
More  noteworthy  is  his  collaboration  with  David 
Mallet  in  TheJ£as£ueof  Alfred  (1740),  performed  at  a 
fete  given  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  for  to  it  Thomson 
contributed  the  famous  ode,  ^Rule  Britannia.'  In 
Agamemnon  (1738),  Edward  and  Eleonora,  rejected 
by  the  censor,  and  Tancred  and  Sigismunda  (1745), 
Thomson  relentlessly  pursued  the  path  of  tragedy. 
A  version  of  Coriolanus  (1749)  heroically  struggles  to 
compress  the  action  in  conformity  with  the  dramatic 
unities,  and  emasculates  its  vigour.  Thomson  aimed 
to  couch  poHtical  and  moral  sentiments  in  chaste 
diction,  but  if  at  times  'High  Rant  is  tumbled  from  his 
Gallery  Throne,'  ^  it  only  makes  way  for  frigid  medi- 
ocrity. He  thought  to  reject  'the  glittering  false 
SubHme,'  but  the  effort  to  banish  ghtter  did  not 
banish  falsity  from  his  tragedy.     The  soulless  trag- 

*  Prologue  to  Tancred  and  Sigismunda. 


igS  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

edies  of  Thomson  and  his  like  were  appropriately- 
exposed  to  the  heartless  ridicule  of  burlesque. 

The  French  influence  upon  English  drai^ia  has  con- 
stantly been  found  exerted  in  two  ways  —^  in  classical 
dramatic  theory  and  in  the  practice  of  such  dramatists 
as  Corneille  and  Racine.  In  both  theory  and  practice 
French  influence  derived  a  new  and  powerful  support 
from  Voltaire.^    In  1726,  he  began  a  residence  of  al- 

^most  three  years  in  England  which  placed  him  in 
touch,  rather  than  brought  him  into  sympathy,  with 
English  drama.  Cato  he  considered  a  masterpiece 
of  classical  tragedy ;  yet,  at  least  in  one  passage,  he 
was  forced  to  conclude  that  'creative  genius'  such 
as  Shakespeare's  'moves  forward  without  guide,  with- 
out art,  without  rule.  It  loses  its  way  in  its  progress ; 
but  it  leaves  far  behind  it  everything  which  can  boast 
only  of  reason  and  correctness.'  ^  But  so  catholic 
an  utterance  as  this  would  convey  a  wrong  impression 
of  Voltaire's  habitual  point  of  view.  Taste,  that 
touchstone  of  classical  criticism,  Voltaire  deemed 
lacking    in    Shakespeare.     Strangely    silent    as    to 

.  Shakespeare's  comedies,  Voltaire  readily  found  mon- 
strosities in  his  tragedies.  '  Shakespear/  he  admitted, 
'  boasted  a  strong,  fruitful  Genius :  He  was  natural 
and  sublime,  but  had  not  so  much  as  a  single  Spark 
of  good  Taste,  or  knew  one  Rule  of  the  Drama.' ^  This, 
indeed,  was  the  frequent  judgment  of  those  Restora- 
tion wits  who  had  often  to  acknowledge  Shakespeare's 

1  See  for  the  fullest  and  most  scholarly  discussion  of  Voltaire's 
influence  in  England,  T.  R.  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire. 

2  Quoted  by  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  p.  52. 

*  Letters  concerning  the  English  Nation  (translated),  1733,  p.  166. 


XII  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  199 

dramatic  instinct  at  the  very  moment  that  they 
sought  to  improve  his  text.  It  was,  in  a  word,  the 
concession  of  classicism  to  the  genius  of  romantic 
drama. 

When  Voltaire  set  himself  the  difficult  task  of  ^ 
translating  dramatic  theory  into  practice,  his  classical 
taste  showed  the  efifect  of  Enghsh  contagion.  Not 
merely  did  he  borrow  in  his  own  plays  from  Julius 
CcBsar,  Othello,  Hamlet,  Macbeth,  and  Lear  more 
freely  than  he  was  disposed  to  acknowledge,  but  he 
relaxed  the  rigorous  precepts  of  classical  drama  in 
partial  deference  to  Enghsh  freedom  of  action. 
'France  is  not  the  only  country  where  tragedies  are 
written;'  he  wrote  in  a  letter  of  1735,  'and  our  taste, 
or  rather  our  practice,  of  putting  upon  the  stage 
nothing  but  love-dialogues  does  not  please  other 
nations.  Our  theatre  is  ordinarily  devoid  of  action 
and  of  great  interests.'  ^  Fifteen  years  later,  in  a 
letter  full  of  strictures  on  the  barbarities  of  English 
tragedy,  he  admitted,  '  'Tis  true  we  have  too  much  of 
words,  if  you  have  too  much  of  action,  and  perhaps 
the  perfection  of  the  Art  should  consist  in  a  due  mix- 
ture of  the  french  taste  and  enghsh  energy.'  ^  The 
French  and  English  critical  war,  waged  so  long  and 
so  vigorously,  resulted  in  concessions  even  by  the 
leaders  on  both  sides. 

To   the  influence  of  Voltaire's  critical   authority  < 
and  to  the  indirect  influence  in  England  of  the  French 
production  of  his  plays  must  now  be  added  the  direct 
influence   of   versions   of   Voltaire   on   the    EngUsh 

*  Quoted  by  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  p.  71. 

*  Quoted  Ibid.,  p.  138. 


200  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

stage.  William  Duncombe's  adaptation  of  Brutus 
(1734)  proved  a  lukewarm  tragedy,  whose  dramatic 
fire  could  not  be  stirred  by  the  English  innovation  of 
permitting  the  death  of  the  heroine  on  the  stage. 
Buncombe's  version  brought  upon  Voltaire  the  charge 
of  plagiarism  from  Lee's  Restoration  tragedy,  Brutus} 
More  friendly  in  tone,  but  hardly  less  definite  in 
assertion  of  Voltaire's  debt  to  English  tragedy,  was 
Colley  Gibber's  Prologue  to  Hill's  Zara  (1736;  pri- 
vately presented,  1735),  a  version  of  Voltaire's  Zaire: 

From  English  Plays,  Zara's  French  Author  fir'd, 
Confess'd  his  Muse,  beyond  herself,  inspir'd ; 
From  rack'd  Othello's  Rage,  he  rais'd  his  Style, 
And  snatch'd  the  Brand,  that  lights  his  Tragick  Pile. 

Aaron  Hill  (i 685-1 750),  whose  literary  activity  had 
^Slready  manifested  itself  in  the  libretto  to  Handel's 
opera,  Rinaldo  (1711),  and  in  several  tragedies,^  was 
encouraged  by  his  success  in  Zara,  to  produce  in  the 
same  year  another  adaptation  of  Voltaire,  Alzira. 
Hill's  third  adaptation  from  Voltaire,  Merope  (1749), 
failed,  Kke  its  predecessor,  to  equal  the  success  of  Zara. 
One  other  adaptation  of  Voltaire  on  the  English  stage 
prior  to  1750  may  be  mentioned  —  James  Miller's 
version  of  Mahomet  (1744).^  Its  Prologue  contains 
further  proof  that  Voltaire's  debt  to  Shakespeare 
did  not  escape  EngHsh  eyes : 

*  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  pp.  75-76. 

^The  Fatal  Vision,  or  The  Fall  of  Siant  (17 16),  The  Fatal  Ex- 
travagance, whose  title  fits  more  than  one  of  Hill's  works  with  fatal 
felicity,  King  Henry  the  Fifth,  and  Athelwold  (1731),  a  revision  of  his 
Elfrid,  or  The  Fair  Inconstant. 

'A  note  to  the  *  fourth  edition,  with  new    Improvements'  (1766),  - 
of  Mahomet  the  Imposter,  says  :  *  the  first  four  Acts  composed  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Miller: 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  20I 

Britons,  these  Numbers  to  yourselves  you  owe ; 
Voltaire  hath  Strength  to  shoot  in  Shakespeare's  Bow. 

With  English  Freedom,  English  Wit  he  knew, 
And  from  the  inexhausted  Stream  profusely  drew. 

To  trace  further  Voltaire's  influence  on  English 
drama  would  be  to  carry  the  present  chapter  beyond 
its  proper  limits.  Yet  something  may  be  said  by- 
way of  present  summary.  The  respect  accorded  to 
Voltaire's  critical  authority  and  the  frequency  of 
the  EngHsh  versions  of  his  plays  gave  him  marked 
influence  upon  English  drama.  Yet  this  influence 
has  sometimes  been  exaggerated.  Many  of  his 
plays,  in  their  EngHsh  version,  met  with  but 
moderate  favour.  Zara  had  a  continuous  run  of 
fourteen  nights,  but  its  success  was  exceptional. 
Almost  from  the  outset  it  was  recognized  that  Vol- 
taire had  borrowed  freely  from  Shakespeare,  and  hence 
his  plays  could  hardly  be  expected  to  conquer  ulti- 
mately the  native  genius  to  whom  he  was  much  in- 
debted. Dramas  of  Shakespeare  had  far  more  fre- 
quent performance  than  had  the  English  adaptations 
of  Voltaire's  plays,  and,  as  the  century  advanced, 
the  tide  of  English  criticism  set  strongly  in  Shake- 
speare's favour.  Critical  editions  of  his  works  in- 
creased his  influence  with  readers,  and  Garrick's 
masterly  performances  notably  deepened  Shake- 
speare's popularity  on  the  stage. 

While  English  tragedy  pursued  its  rather  unevent- 
ful course  during  the  second  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  one  radical  departure  from  the  usual  types 
merits  attention  wholly  out  of  proportion  with  its 


^ 


202  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

intrinsic  literary  value.  This  was  the  introduction 
of  prose  bourgeois  tragedy  in  Lillo's  George  Barnwell 
(1731).  Domestic  tragedy  itself  was,  in  a  sense,  no 
novelty.  Apart  from  somewhat  sporadic  appearances 
in  such  Elizabethan  dramas  as  Arden  of  Fever  sham,  A 
Yorkshire  Tragedy,  and  Heywood's  A  Woman  Killed 
with  Kindness,  definite  examples  of  it  had  been  fur- 
nished by  Qtway,  Southerne,  and  Rowe.  Further- 
more, as  has  already  been  shown,  so-called  *  senti- 
mental comedy'  was  in  reality  often  semi- tragic 
in  character.  Though  the  trials  and  sorrows  of  or- 
dinary life  did  not,  therefore,  supply  a  wholly  new 
dramatic  motif,  they  found  novel  application  in  the 
form  of  tragedy  now  inaugurated. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  George  Lillo  (1693-1739), 
when  he  turned  from  the  trade  of  jeweller  to  which  his 
father  had  brought  him  up,  became  the  dramatist  of 
bourgeois  life.  LHis  first  piece  Silvia,  or  The  Country 
Burial  (1730)  is  a  ballad  opera  in  which  virtue  and 
vice  blend  rather  coarsely .^  In  The  London  Merchant, 
or  The  History  of  George  Barnwell  (1731),  Lillo  pro- 
duced a  tragedy  that  stands  as  a  landmark  in  the 
history  of  English  drama.  The  domestic  tragedies 
of  Otway,  Southerne,  and  Rowe  seem  rather  to  have 
depressed  the  aristocratic  tone  of  tragedy  than  to 
have  exalted  its  democratic  character.  Otway's  Or- 
phan is  more  noticeable  for  the  absence  of  distinc- 
tions of  rank  than  for  the  presence  of  bourgeois 
elements.  In  Jane  Shore,  Rowe  pictures  the  downfall 
of  a  woman  of  lower  class,  but  the  agent  of  her  ruin  is 
an  aristocrat.  Lillo  deliberately  set  his  piece  in  the 
surroundings  of  everyday  citizen  life.    George  Barnwell 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S   INFLUENCE  203 

is  the  exaltation  of  trade.  The  virtue  of  the  mer- 
chant's calling  is  second  only  to  that  of  morality. 
Commercial  cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness.  At 
the  opening  of  the  third  act,  Thorowgood  and  True- 
man,  whose  names  are  significant,  show  how  trade  4, 
has  'promoted  humanity'  and  how  it  is  'by  mutual 
benefits  diffusing  mutual  love  from  pole  to  pole.' 
The  sacred  object  of  the  merchant's  calling  is  thus 
defined:  'It  is  the  industrious  merchant's  business 
to  collect  the  various  blessings  of  each  soil  and  climate, 
and,  with  the  product  of  the  whole,  to  enrich  his 
native  country.'  Charles  Lamb  ^  evinced  distaste 
for  Lillo's  work,  but  Fielding,  in  Joseph  Andrews, 
has  an  ironical  fling  at  those  who  dislike  Lillo  because 
his  expression  is  bourgeois  — '  those  low,  dirty,  last 
dying  speeches,  which  a  fellow  in  the  city  of  Wrap- 
ping, your  Dillo  or  Lillo,  what  was  his  name,  called 
tragedies.'  ^  ._*•♦.. 

George  Barnwell  is  the  story  of  the  ruin  of  an  ap-  t 
prentice  by  a  courtesan.  Millwood  leads  Barnwell 
steadily  downward  to  theft,  murder,  and  the  gallows. 
The  piece  suggests  Hogarth's  plates  —  Trueman  is 
the  industrious,  and  Barnwell  the  idle,  apprentice. 
Lillo  based  his  play  on  an  old  ballad  which  presented 
Barnwell  in  a  less  sympathetic  light.  In  the  ballad, 
Barnwell  offers  of  his  own  accord  to  rob  his  father  and 
rich  sister  to  meet  Millwood's  importunities,  and  him- 

^  On  the  Tragedies  of  Shakespeare.  See  discussion  by  A.  W.  Ward, 
edition  (Belles-Lettres  Series)  of  Lillo's  London  Merchant  and  Fatal 
Curiosity,  Introduction,  pp.  xxviii-xxix.  Ward's  suggestive  and 
scholarly  study  of  Lillo  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  history 
of  EngHsh  drama. 

2  Book  III,  Chapter  X. 


204  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap, 

self  proposes  his  uncle's  murder,  which  the  Millwood 
of  the  play  suggests.  Lillo  emphasizes  Barnwell's 
repentance;  the  ballad  makes  but  brief  mention  of 
the  'fear  and  sting  of  conscience'  which  prompt  his 
written  confession.  The  play  enlarges  the  rather 
scant  materials  of  the  ballad  by  the  introduction  of 
the  lovelorn  Maria,  of  Trueman,  and  of  Millwood's 
servants,  Lucy  and  Blunt. 
\^  The  conscious  moral  aim  of  sentimental  drama, 
apparent  in  the  comedies  of  Gibber  and  Steele,  re- 
appears in  Lillo's  tragedy.  He  cared  more  to  point 
a  moral  than  to  adorn  the  tale.  As  if  the  moralized 
justice  of  the  denouement  were  insufficient,  the 
dialogue  is  filled  with  such  aphorisms  as  Thorow- 
good's,  '  When  vice  becomes  habitual,  the  very  power 
of  leaving  it  is  lost.'  The  Beggar's  Opera  had  been 
declared  an  incentive  to  vice,  but  there  are  contem- 
porary documents  to  prove  that  George  Barnwell 
could  reclaim  a  sinner.  Lee  Lewes  quotes  a  long 
letter^  telling  of  a  youthful  embezzler  who  was  so 
struck  by  the  similarity  between  his  situation  and 
that  of  Barnwell  that  he  wished  death,  but  was  happily 
reclaimed  by  his  father,  became  an  eminent  merchant, 
and  annually  presented  to  the  actor  Ross  ten  guineas 
as  'a  tribute  of  gratitude  from  one  who  was  highly 
obliged,  and  saved  from  ruin,  by  seeing  Mr.  Ross's 
performance  of  Barnwell.' 

Despite  the  weight  of  moralizing,  Lillo's  play  has 
marked  unity  and  dramatic  movement.  Everything 
centres  in  Barnwell,  and  the  plot  unfolds  clearly  and 

1  Memoirs  of  Charles  Lee  Lewes  .  .  .  Written  by  Himself,  1805,  IV, 
243-248. 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  205 

inevitably.  So  much,  indeed,  is  sympathy  enlisted 
for  Barnwell  as  a  man  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning  that  Httle  compassion  is  felt  for  the  murdered 
uncle,  who  is  introduced  only  as  a  lamb  led  to  the 
slaughter.  The  motive  of  the  action  does  not  always 
seem  adequate,  nor  is  the  character  portrayal  consist- 
ent. Barnwell  might  seemingly  have  robbed  his  uncle 
without  murdering  him.  Barnwell  meets  Millwood's 
soHcitations  with  the  simpHcity  of  unsullied  youth; 
but  his  immediate  yielding  to  temptation  cannot  be  V 
forgiven  on  the  score  of  ignorance,  since  his  very  words 
acknowledge  guilt.  The  veneer  of  morality  is  super- 
ficial—  a  sort  of  bourgeois  piety  that  yields  almost 
without  resistance.  Yet  certainly  this  is  not  the 
impression  that  Lillo  sought  to  convey.  Again,  if 
Barnwell  is  so  thoroughly  under  the  spell  of  Millwood 
that  he  commits  murder  at  her  suggestion,  it  is 
questionable  whether  he  would  have  left  untouched 
the  money  which  was  his  object.  Stevenson's 
Markheim,  who  remains  in  the  shop  of  the  murdered 
dealer  and  gives  himself  up  to  the  police,  is  hardly  a 
case  in  point.  Millwood  is  a  more  logical  study  in 
depraved  passion.  Lillo  shows  dramatic  restraint  in 
allowing  the  faithful  Maria  to  survive  Barnwell's 
death.  Melodrama  would  have  had  her  die  of  a 
broken  heart  just  before  the  curtain-fall. 

Important  as  was  the  influence  of  George  Barnwell  <. 
upon  the  subject  matter  of  English  tragedy,  it  was  no 
less  important  in  its  effect  upon  its  language.  Shake- 
speare's occasional  employment  of  prose  in  tragedy 
does  not  alter  the  fact  that  Elizabethan  tragedy  is 
essentially  poetic  both  in  conception  and  in  phras- 


2o6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

ing.  Lillo  attempted  to  give  to  domestic  tragedy  the 
vocabulary  of  everyday  life.  To  the  modern  reader 
the  effect  is  often  grotesque.  Highly  stilted  passages, 
unnatural  inversions  of  phrase,  rhymed  'scene  tags,' 
often  not  limited  to  single  couplets  and  sometimes 
not  confined  to  the  last  scenes  of  each  act,  show  that 
Lillo 's  language  has  by  no  means  thrown  off  all  the 
shackles  of  old-school  tragedy.  Yet  it  is  idle  to  judge 
Lillo 's  prose  by  the  standards  of  a  modern  drama 
that  has  been  affected  by  Ibsen.  Artificial  as  was  his 
expression,  Lillo  had  at  bottom  the  same  idea  as 
Wordsworth  in  seeking  to  tell  a  simple  story  in  the 
prose  language  of  ordinary  life.  In  justice  to  Lillo 
it  may  be  remembered  that  his  dialogue  does  not 
seem  much  more  artificial  than  the  language  of 
Richardson's  novels.  The  age  was  accustomed  tofi 
overcharged  phrasing  in  drama,  as  it  was  to  the  'grand  f 
manner'  in  acting.  Lillo's  conception  of  natural  1 
dialogue,  however  crude^  marks  a  step  forward 
toward  modern  realism.  ITlt  was  this  doubtless  that 
led  Fielding,  who  was  so  ready  to  burlesque  the 
tragedies  of  Young  and  Thomson  and  to  turn  away 
from  the  conventional  moralizing  of  Richardson  in 
the  novel,  to  confess  appreciation  of  Lillo.  Even 
Pope,  who  attended  the  first  performance,  though  he 
deemed  the  dialogue  too  stilted,  found  that  Lillo 
had  only  occasionally  been  led  '  into  a  poetical  lux- 
uriancy,  affecting  to  be  too  elevated  for  the  simplicity 
of  the  subject.'  ^  Yet  if  much  is  to  be  forgiven  to 
Lillo,  there  is  no  doubt  that  at  times  he  sinned  greatly. 

^  The  Lives  of  the  Poets  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland.     By  Mr. 
[Theophilus]  Gibber  and  other  Hands,  1753,  V,  339. 


X 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  207 

The  uncle's  soliloquies  (III,  6  and  7)  go  far  to  justify 
his  murder.  They  bear  the  mark  of  the  conventional 
rhetoric  of  tragedy,  with  little  gain  in  their  substitu- 
tion of  unpoetic  prose  for  prosaic  verse.  If  the  old 
shackles  of  verse  tragedy  have  been  broken,  the  marks 
of  the  fetters  remain  visible.^ 

The  importance  of  George  Barnwell  is  not  an  inven- 
tion of  recent  dramatic  criticism.  Though  the  first 
performance  of  the  play  did  not  occur  until  late  in 
June,  it  achieved  some  twenty  performances  during 
the  summer  season,  and  became  a  stock  play  at 
Drury  Lane.  It  was  often  acted  at  hoUday  seasons, 
was  revived  by  Charles  Kemble,  in  1796,  and  its 
story  was  retold  in  the  form  of  a  novel,  by  T.  S.  Surr 
(1798),  which  had  various  editions.  France,  Holland, 
and  Germany  felt  Lillo's  influence.  Diderot  paid  him 
high  tribute  and  in  his  own  plays  introduced  on 
the  French  stage  the  'tragedie  domestique  et  bour- 
geoise.'  Lessing,  in  turn,  through  his  translation 
of  Diderot's  plays,  and  through  his  adoption  of  The 
London  Merchant  as  the  model  for  his  Miss  Sara 
Sampson  (1755),  brought  German  drama  under  the 
influence  of  Lillo.  Not  merely  English,  but  Continen- 
tal drama,  found  in  Lillo  a  powerful  leader.^  ^"^Z  *^  **7 
I  In  The  Christian  Hero  (1735),  Lillo  continued  to  c 
moralize  tragedy,  but  deserted  prose  and  the 
characters  of  lowly  rank  to  'sing  a  pious  hero,  and  a 
patriot  king.'    With  a  scene  set  in  Albania,  with  the 

^  For  further  discussion  of  Lillo's  influence  on  Continental  drama, 
see  the  present  writer's  Chapter  IV,  in  Volume  X,  of  the  Cambridge 
History  of  English  Literature,  and  especially  A.  W.  Ward's  edition  of 
Lillo  already  cited. 


2o8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dramatis  personcB  divided  between  Turks  and  Chris- 
tians, Lillo  seems  to  have  lapsed  into  the  familiar 
conventions  of  tragedy.  Much  more  important  is 
Fatal  CunQMty:  A  True  Tragedy  of  Three  Acts  (1736). 
Though  Lillo  retains  blank  verse,  in  his  hands  a 

^^lumsy  instrument,  he  turns  again  to  domestic 
tragedy.  Old  Wilmot,  impelled  by  his  wife  to  seek 
a  desperate  remedy  for  their  poverty,  kills  the  stranger 
that  is  within  their  gates,  only  to  find  that  he  has  mur- 
dered his  son  whom  '  fatal  curiosity '  has  led  to  conceal 
his  identity.  With  something  of  the  Greek  concep- 
tion, destiny  dominates  the  tragedy.  Thus  Fatal  Curi- 
osity is,  as  Ward  has  clearly  pointed  out,^  *an  early 
experiment  in  a  species  to  which  the  Germans,  who 
alone  cultivated  it  to  any  considerable  extent,  have 
given  the  name  of  Schicksalstragddie  —  the  tragedy  of 
destiny.'  Translation  and  imitation  brought  it  into 
influence  upon  German  drama.  Upon  English  drama 
its  influence  lay  not  in  the  development  of  the  Greek 
idea  of  tragedy,  but  in  its  domestic  character.  '  From 
lower  Hfe  we  draw  our  scene's  distress,'  runs  a  line  in 
the  Prologue. 

farina,  a  three-act  drama  in  which  blank  verse 
yields  to  prose  in  the  needlessly  coarse  brothel  scenes, 
is  based  on  Pericles^  Prince  of  Tyre.  The  end  shows 
*  Virtue  preserv'd  from  fell  destruction's  blast,'  but 

^  the  means  hardly  justify  the  end.  Three  of  Lillo's 
dramatic  works  were  published  after  his  death  — 
Britannia  and  Batavia,  a  somewhat  late  survival  of 
the  maisq\ie,Elmerick,  or  Justice  Triumphant,  a  tragedy 
in  blank  verse,  and  Arden  of  Fever  sham ,  an  adaptation 
of  Elizabethan  domestic  tragedy. 

^  LUlo,  Introduction!  p.  L 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  209 

Lillo's  importance  in  the  history  of  English  drama 
depends  primarily  on  George  Barnwell.  Artificial 
as  his  work  may  appear  to  modern  taste,  he  set  in 
motion  powerful  forces  that  pointed  toward  natural 
tragedy.  In  attempting  'to  show,  In  artless  strains,  a 
tale  of  private  woe, '  he  consciously  divested  tragedy 
of  its  traditional  deference  to  rank  and  title  and 
to  the  ceremonious  dignity  of  verse  form.  Tragedy 
still  needed  emancipation  from  sentimentalized 
morahty.  But  if  Lillo  accepted  some  conventions 
of  the  sentimental  school,  he  was  none  the  less  a 
pioneer  in  English  drama.  He  animated  domestic 
drama,  and  in  the  adoption  of  prose  led  the  way  to 
prose  melodrama  and  tragedy.  * 

The  marked  success  of  George  Barnwell  must  not 
be  mistaken  for  proof  of  the  dominance  of  domestic 
tragedy  thereafter  on  the  English  stage.  Year  after 
year,  the  London  theatres  continued  to  produce  a 
remarkable  variety  of  dramas,  from  classical  tragedy 
to  nondescript  farce.  Genest's  lists  show,  if  not  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  at  least  a  remarkable  survival 
of  earlier  plays  that  still  proved,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  theatrically  effective.  The  season  following 
George  Barnwell,  for  example,  saw  performances  of 
various  plays  of  Shakespeare,  Ben  Jonson,  Dryden, 
Etherege,  Otway,  Southerne,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh, 
Farquhar,  Addison,  Steele,  Mrs.  Centlivre,  and  many 
others.  Yet  Lillo 's  continued  success  had  its  influence 
on  other  playwrights.  Charles  Johnson,  a  minor 
dramatist  who  usually  had  his  ear  to  the  ground, 
probably  fashioned  his  moralized  tragedy  Caelia, 
or  The  Perjured  Lover  (1732),  after  Lillo's  pattern. 


2IO  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Wronglove  is  a  Lothario  who  repents  after  he  has 
been  fatally  wounded  in  a  duel,  while  the  woman  he 
has  wronged  dies  of  a  broken  heart.  Fielding's 
Epilogue  mocks  the  distressed  heroine,  but  the  play 
itself  is  a  sentimentalized  domestic  tragedy. 
The  most  conspicuous  follower  of  Lillo  was  Edward 
*- Moore  (1712-1757).  Lillo  had  been  a  jeweller's 
apprentice;  Moore,  like  Gay,  was  brought  up  as 
apprentice  to  a  mercer.  It  is  significant  that  the 
aristocratic  preferences  of  tragedy  were  set  aside 
by  pla3rwrights  whose  origin  was  as  humble  as 
their  dramatic  themes.  Like  Gay,  Moore  was 
something  of  a  fabulist,  showing  in  his  Fables  for  the 
Female  Sex  the  conscious  moral  aim  which  dominates 
his  important  play.  Of  his  early  dramatic  efforts, 
The  Foundling  (1748),  a  jiQinedy  in  which  has  been 
deiecte(f"""some  resemblance  to  Steele's  Conscious 
Lovers,  gave  to  MackUn,  in  the  part  of  the  foppish 
Faddle,  an  opportunity  to  mimic  an  *  agreeable 
rattle'  of  the  day  named  Russell.  ^Hpil  Bias  (1751), 
comedy  is  darkened  with  an  underplot  involving  a 
scheme  of  assassination,  but  the  author's  strong  tragic 
and  moral  tendencies  found  fullest  expression  in 
V  The  Gamester  (1753). 

TCIoore^3?amatizes  a  new  commandment,  IThou 
shalt  not  gamble.'  Addison  had  already  attacked 
gambHng  in  The  Spectator,  and  Pope  had  laughed  at 
ombre  playing  in  The  Rape  of  the  Lock.  Draper, 
in  an  unimportant  comedy.  The  Spendthrift  (1731), 
had  introduced  a  young  prodigal  ruined  by  gaming, 
but  had  finally  reconciled  him  to  his  father  and 
mated  him  to  his  faithful  Jenny.    Moore,  however, 


xn  VOLTAIRE'S  INFLUENCE  211 

strikes  no  glancing  blow  at  gambling.  All  his  energy 
centres  in  one  relentless  attack  which  gives  unity  to 
his  tragedy.  Without  halt  The  Gamester  advances 
to  its  fatal  conclusion.  At  times  tragedy  stoops  to 
melodrama.  Surprise,  instead  of  expectation,  is 
the  motive  when  Lewson  appears  after  the  supposed 
murder.  Again,  in  the  opening  scene  of  the  last  act, 
Bates  recounts  the  murder  to  Stukely  with  no  hint 
that  he  is  inventing  the  whole  story.  But  if  the 
appeal  is  made  sometimes  to  theatrical  effect  rather 
than  to  the  fundamental  motives  of  tragic  action, 
Moore  has  escaped  some  melodramatic  pitfalls. 
Remembering,  perhaps,  Lillo's  restraint  in  not  dispos- 
ing of  Maria  in  the  culmination  of  his  tragedy, 
he  does  not  allow  Mrs.  Beverley  to  expire  on  her 
husband's  corpse.  Less  happy,  doubtless,  is  the  sup- 
pression of  actual  gambling  scenes  on  the  stage.  In 
failing  to  show  his  character  directly  under  the  spell 
of  the  gambling  passion,  Moore  seems  to  have  sacri- 
ficed a  situation  that  would  have  strengthened  not 
merely  the  drama  itself  but  its  acting  possibilities. 
The  career  of  the  gambler  is  shown  by  effect  rather 
than  by  cause.  The  actual  gambler's  life  is  seen 
only  in  the  background.  The  characters  show  more 
dramatic  power  than  Lillo's.  Jarvis,  the  faithful 
servant,  with  his  offers  of  money,  recalls  Orlando's 
Adam :  '  I  have  a  Httle  Money,  Madam ;  it  might  have 
been  more,  but  I  have  lov'd  the  Poor.  All  that  I  have 
is  yours'  (I,  i).  Moore  is  not  without  faults  in 
dramatic  construction,  but  there  is  a  certain  im- 
pressiveness  in  his  main  structural  outline,  and  a 
certain  resolute  energy  in  the  execution  of  his  design. 


212  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap.  xn. 

Moore's  prose  is  an  improvement  over  Lillo's, 
yet  is  by  no  means  colloquial.  There  is  none  of  the 
ease  and  naturalness  of  the  best  dialogue  of  comic 
dramatists.  Tragedy  inclines  naturally  toward  a 
more  elevated  style  than  comedy,  but  Moore  has 
^  not  mastered  the  lesson  of  simplicity.  The  result  is 
something  between  Lillo's  inverted  and  quasi-poetic 
prose  and  the  language  of  ordinary  life. 
1^  Moore's  name  is  closely  linked  with  that  of  David 
Garrick.  His  plays  were  produced  at  Drury  Lane, 
with  Garrick  in  the  leading  roles.  Garrick  was  the 
Beverley  of  The  Gamester,  wrote  its  Prologue,  and, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  Davies,^  supplied 
part  of  the  dialogue  of  the  play,  especially  in  the  scene 
between  Lewson  and  Stukely  in  the  fourth  act.  It 
is  significant  in  the  history  of  the  English  stage  that 
the  mid-eighteenth  century  found  its  dominant  in- 
fluence not  in  the  playwright  but  in  the  actor. 

^Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrick,  'New  Edition,'  1780,  I, 
166-167. 


4 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FIELDING  AND  THE   LICENSING  ACT 

The  prestige  of  conventional  English  tragedy, 
somewhat  disturbed  by  Lillo's  bold  innovations, 
was  further  shaken  by  the  destructive  force  of  bur- 
lesque. The  Rehearsal  had  turned  the  laugh  against 
heroic  tragedy;  Fielding  and  his  fellows  ridiculed 
the  absurdities  oT  contemporary  eighteenth-century 
tragedy.  J^^Jui  Gay  had  already  pointed  the  way  with 
his  What-d^y^-c,all-it  (17 15),  burlesquing  especiallj'" 
Otway's  Venice  Preserved,  and  had  in  The  Beggar^ s 
Opera  satirized  impartially  Italian  opera,  senti- 
mental drama,  and  contemporary  poHtics.  Yet 
neither  Gay's  nor  Fielding's  influence  on  English 
drama  was  confined  to  the  negative  force  of  burlesque. 
TJte  Beggar^s  Opera  presented  in  ballad  opera  a 
positive  dramatic  type.  Fielding  did  not  confine 
himself  to  ridicule  of  pompous  tragedy,  but  in  many 
pieces  helped  to  estabHsh  the  popularity  of  short 
draina^k  _satire.  WitF  him  farce  Hafed  to'^old  its 
own  with  five-act^formaLdraina. 

The  long  dramatic  record  of  Henry  Fielding 
(1707-17 54)  began,  some  two  months  before  he  came 
of  age,  with  the  production  at  Drury  Lane  of  Love-in 
Several.  M^qsgues  (1728).  This  comedy  of  the  Con- 
greve  type,  if  its  characters  somewhat  betoken  the 
*raw    and    unexperienced    pen'   which    its    Preface 

213 


214  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

modestly  admits,  has  considerable  sprightliness  of 
dialogue.  Gibber's  Provoked  Husband  had  just 
achieved  a  run  of  twenty-eight  consecutive  nights, 
and  The  Beggar's  Opera  was  in  the  opening  weeks  of 
its  phenomenal  success,  yet  Fielding  obtained  a 
fair  hearing.  Two  years  later  he  launched  forth  on  the 
flood  of  dramatic  activity.  Though  some  of  his  early 
pieces  like  The  Temple  Beau  (1730)  and  Rape  upon 
Rape}  or  The  Justice  Caught  in  his  own  Trap  (1730)  are 
five-act  comedies,  Fielding  seems  for  the  most  part 
to  have  followed  the  advice  which  he  puts  into 
Witmore's  mouth  in  his  Author'' s  Farce  (1730) : 
'When  the  theatres  are  puppets-shows,  and  the 
comedians  ballad-singers ;  when  fools  lead  the  town, 
would  a  man  think  to  thrive  by  his  wit?  If  thou 
must  write,  write  nonsense,  write  operas,  write 
Hurlothrumbos.'  ^  With  a  reminiscence  of  The  Re- 
hearsal, The  Author's  Farce  includes  the  rehearsal  of 
a  puppet-show  by  an  impecunious  author.  Luckless, 
who  at  times  suggests  Fielding  himself.  The  scene 
at  the  Court  of  Nonsense,  introducing  such  characters 
as  Signior  Opera,  Sir  Farcical  Comic,  Don  Tragedio, 
and  Monsieur  Pantomime,  obviously  satirizes  popular 
theatrical  taste.  But  Fielding  did  not  confine  his 
satire  to  generahties.  Hits  at  Johnson,  the  author  of 
Hurlothrumho,  at  ^Orator  Henley,'  and  possibly  at 

1  Another  edition  (also  1730)  gives  the  main  title  as  The  Coffee- 
House  Politician,  but  retains  Rape  upon  Rape  as  a  running-title  in 
the  text. 

2  Quotations  in  this  chapter  are  from  W.  E.  Henley's  edition  of 
The  Complete  Works  of  Fielding,  Vols.  I-V.  The  dates  on  the  fac- 
simile title-pages  there  reproduced  naturally  do  not  always  coincide 
with  those  of  the  first  stage  productions. 


XIII  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING  ACT  21 5 

Wilks  and  Gibber  open  up  the  vein  of  personal  satire 
which  he  later  exploited  to  the  full. 

Most  entertaining  of  Fielding's  early  dramatic 
work  is  Tom  Thumb,  first  produced  in  two  acts,  in 
1730,  and  then  expanded  to  three  acts  as  The  Tragedy 
of  Tragedies,  or  The  Life  and  Death  of  Tom  Thumb  the 
Great. . .  With  the  Annotations  ofH.  Scriblerus  Secundus. 
This  admirable  burlesque  hits  such  vulnerable  parts  of 
regular  tragedy  as  its  conventional  opening  passages, 
its  heroic  themes  of  love  and  valour,  its  pompous 
phrases  and  artificial  rhymed  similes.  The  tragedy 
Ghost  passes  from  the  subHme  to  the  ridiculous  in 
the  apparition  of  Tom  Thumb's  dead  father,  the 
classical  sonority  of  Thomson's  'Oh,  Sophonisba, 
Sophonisba,  oh '  is  parodied  in  *  Oh  !  Huncamunca, 
Huncamunca,  oh!'  and  the  solution  by  massacre  is 
outdone  by  half-a-dozen  consecutive  murders  in  as 
many  lines,  followed  by  the  suicide  of  the  King. 
Not  merely  contemporary  tragedy  but  dramatic 
criticism  is  burlesqued.  A  long  prefactory  essay  that 
pretends  to  seek  authority  in  Aristotle  and  Horace, 
and  elaborate  paraphernaha  of  mock  critical  and 
explanatory  notes,  embellish  the  satire.  To  the 
line,  'The  mighty  Thomas  Thumb  victorious  comes,' 
this  note  is  appended:  'Dr.  B[entle]y  reads:  The 
mighty  Tall-mast  Thumb.  Mr.  D[enni]s :  The  mighty 
Thumbing  Thumb.  Mr.  T[heobal]d  reads:  Thun- 
dering. I  think  Thomas  more  agreeable  to  the 
great  simplicity  so  apparent  in  our  Author.'  It  is 
a  mocking  echo  of  the  critical  controversies  over 
Shakespeare  that  had  begun  to  multiply  since  the 
first  critical  edition  by  Rowe  in  1709.    In  the  notes, 


2l6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

likewise,  Fielding's  hits  are  specifically  aimed  not 
merely  at  recent  tragedies  like  Cato,  Young's  Busiris, 
and  Fen  ton's  popular  Mariamne  (1723),  but  at  the 
^-^ theories  of  Corneille  and  the  practice  of  Dryden, 
Banks,  and  Lee.  Tom  Thumb  had  been  anticipated  by 
The  Rehearsal  and  was  to  be  surpassed  by  The  Critic, 
but  it  holds  its  place  as  one  of  the  few  permanently 
noteworthy  burlesques  in  EngUsh  drama. 

TJie^Covent-Gqrden  Tragedy  (1732)  continues  in 
part  the  burlesque  method  of  Tom  Thumb,  but  the 
manner  is  coarsened.  The  mock  preface  to  Tom 
Thumb  is  here  replaced  by  'Prolegomena,'  purporting 
to  be  a  collection  of  critiques  upon  the  tragedy,  per- 
haps the  most  significant  suggestion  being  that  the 
characters  of  Lovegirlo  and  Kissinda  'are  poor 
imitations  of  the  characters  of  Pyrrhus  and  Androm- 
ache in  The  Distrest  Mother,  as  Bilkum  and  Stor- 
mandra  are  of  Orestes  and  Hermione.'  In  thus  at- 
tempting to  ridicule  Ambrose  Philips  by  degrading 
tragedy  to  the  stews  of  Covent  Garden,  the  keen 
point  of  Fielding's  satire  becomes  blunt  with  coarse  use. 
The  real  spirit  of  Tom  Thumb  was  more  genuinely 
revived  by  Henry  Carey  (d.  1743)  mChrononhoton- 
thologos :  Being  tUe  Most  Tragical  Tragedy,  that  ever  was 
Tragediz'd  by  any  Company  of  Tragedians  (1734). 
Carey  was  the  author  of  several  operas  and  of  the 
popular  ballad  Sally  in  Our  Alley.  The  gift  of  phrase, 
which  nicknamed  Ambrose  PhiUps  'Namby-pamby,' 
is  apparent  in  Carey's  burlesque  from  the  opening 
speech  of  Rigdum-Funnidos : 

Aldiborontiphoscophornio ! 

Where  left  you  Chrononhotonthologos  ? 


xm  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING  ACT  217 

to  the  death  of  the  'Faithful  Bombardinion.'  The 
tragedy  groan'  with  which  the  survivors  conclude 
the  piece  might  properly  have  been  invoked  at  such 
earlier  phrases  as : 

His  cogitative  Faculties  immers'd 
In  Cogibundity  of  Cogitation. 

Carey's  burlesque  opera,  The  Dragon  of  Wantley 
(1737),  hits  at  the  absurdities  of  formal  opera. 
While  Fielding  and  Carey  thus  out-Heroded  Herod 
they,  Hke  Lillo,  in  reality  promoted  sanity  in  English 
drama.  Tom  Thumb  is  the  ironic  expression  of  that 
revolt  against  conventional  English  tragedy  which 
Fielding  phrased  seriously  in  his  Prologue  to  Lillo's 
Fatal  Curiosity: 

No  fustian  hero  rages  here  to-night ; 
No  armies  fall,  to  fix  a  tyrant's  right. 

Fielding  was  a  prolific  playwright.  In  addition 
to  the  regular  comedies  and  the  burlesques  already 
mentioned,  he  wrote  many  short  farces.  Some  of 
these,  hke  his  early  Lottery'^  and  An  Old  Man  Taught 
Wisdom  (1735),  are  reenforced  with  popular  music, 
light  ditty,  and  topical  song.  In  The  Qrub-Street 
Opera  (1731),  where  m^chief-making  Master  Owen 
courts  the  maid-servants,  and  in  The,  Intriguing 
Chambermaid  (1734),  Fielding  was  unconventional 
enough  to  give  prominence  to  servants  in  his  dramatis 
personce,  thus  anticipating  Townley's  well-known 
farce.  High  Life  Below  Stairs  (i759).2    The  frequent 

*  Genest,  III,  328,  gives  i  January,  1732,  as  '  seemingly  ist  time.' 
2  In  1732,  an  opera  called  The  Footman  dealt  chiefly  with  servants 

who,  as  in  Townley's  farce,  assume  the  names  of  their  masters  and 

mistresses.    See  Genest,  III,  356. 


2l8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

interpolations  of  song  and  the  adoption  of  the  three- 
act  form  show  Fielding's  independence  both  of  the 
spirit  and  structure  of  formal  drama.  The  Letter 
Writers  (1731),  an  outspoken  farce  in  which  young 
Jacli  Commons  comes  to  town  ^resolved  to  take  one 
swing  in  the  charming  plains  of  iniquity '  before  being 
received  into  Holy  Orders,  The  Debauchees  (17^2), 
a  comedy  which  coarsely  sets  forth  the  exposure  of  a 
lewd  Jesuit  priest,  and  Don  Quixote  in  England  (1734), 
a  comedy  loosely  sketched  at  Ley  den,  in  1728,  and 
enlarged  with  some  satirical  *  scenes  concerning  our 
elections'  and  some  fifteen  songs,  ahke  adopt  the 
three-act  form.  The  Modern  Husband  (1732)  boasts, 
in  the  Prologue,  a  reversion  'to  nature  and  to  truth' 
and  a  moral  purpose  which  it  is  difficult  to  detect  in 
five  acts  that  recount  how  'A  willing  cuckold  sells 
his  willing  wife.'  The  considerable  success  of  his 
adaptation  from  Moliere's  Le  Medecin  Malgre  Lui, 
entitled  The  Mock  Doctor  (1732),  led  Fielding  to  a 
more  important  production,  T}mJ£iser  (1733), 
*  taken  from  Plautus  and  Moliere,'  which  won  the 
praise  of  Voltaire  and  the  plaudits  of  Drury  Lane 
audiences.  An  ill-fated  comedy.  The  Universal  Gal- 
lant  (1735),  and  an  unpublished  piece  c?iS^€d  Deborah 
^cted  but  once,  1733),  complete  the  varied  dramatic 
record  of  Fielding  prior  to  his  important  dramatic 
satire,  Pasquin. 

In  coiitfast  with  the  great  Patent  Theatres,  Drury 
Lane  and  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  the  'Little  Theatre 
in  the  Haymarket'  had  followed  a  desultory  career. 
Since  its  opening,  in  1720,  motley  had  been  its  usual 
wear.    French    comedians,    acrobats,    rope-dancers, 


xra  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING  ACT  219 

and  tumblers  had  taken  their  turn  on  the  boards. 
Genest's  fitful  records  of  its  early  performances  show 
productions  of  burlesque  opera,  rough  comedy,  and 
such  medleys  as  Hurlothrumbo ,  or  the  Supernatural 
(1729).  In  this  the  author,  a  dancing  master  named 
Johnson,  himself  acted  the  part  of  Lord  Flame, 
^speaking  sometimes  in  one  key,  and  sometimes  in 
another,  sometimes  dancing,  sometimes  fiddling, 
and  sometimes  walking  upon  stilts.'  ^  With  the 
production  of  The  Author's  Farce  and  Tom  Thumbs 
in  1 730,  the  Haymarket  secured  a  succession  of  pieces 
by  Fielding,  and  begins  to  demand  more  atten- 
tion. In  1733,  it  had  the  brief  eclat  of  performances 
by  the  leading  actors  who  had  seceded  from  Drury 
Lane.  Yet  it  had  acquired  but  slender  dramatic 
tradition  when,  in  1736,  Fielding,  now  its  manager, 
convulsed  the  town  with  more  than  forty  performances 
of  Pasquin. 

Pasquin  is  'a  Drama  tick  Satire  on  the  Times.'  In 
introducing  rehearsals  of  both  a  mock  comedy  and 
a  mock  tragedy  it  elaborS,tes  the  device  of  The  Re- 
hearsal already  used  in  The  Author's  Farce.  Like 
some  of  Fielding's  other  farces,  it  seems  to  have  sup- 
plied Sheridan  with  hints  for  The  Critic.'^  Trapwit's 
comedy  boldly  satirizes  political  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion, pointing  at  Sir  Robert  Walpole  and  the  creed 
now  commonly  attributed  to  him  in  his  supposed 
generalization  that  every  man  has  his  price.  The 
burlesque   tragedy  presents    *The   Life   and   Death 

1  Genest,  III,  247. 

*See,  for  specific  parallel  passages,  the  present  writer's  Major 
Dramas  of  Sheridan,  Introduction,  pp.  Ixxxviii-xci. 


220  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

of  Queen  Common  Sense,'  and,  for  that  matter,  her 
resurrection,  for  it  is  her  Ghost  who  finally  drives 
Ignorance  off  the  stage.  Upon  this,  Fustian,  the 
tragic  poet,  remarks  that '  this  is  almost  the  only  play 
where  she  [Common  Sense]  has  got  the  better  lately.' 
Though  Fielding  himself  was  ready  enough  to  cater 
to  the  popular  taste  for  entertainments,  he  puts  into 
the  mouth  of  Fustian  (Act  V)  a  hit  at  pantomime 
which  might  have  satisfied  even  Colley  Cibber. 
Tumbl^^^x^^J^ick^  or  Fhaeton  i^Jli§_,.Suds  (1736)^ 
biJrIesqued  a  Drury  Lane  production.  The  Fall  of 
Phaeton,  and  in  the  dedication  of  the  piece  to  Mr. 
John  Lun  [Rich's  stage  name]  hit  at  Rich's  unsuccess- 
ful production  at  Coven t  Garden  of  Marforio,  a  satire 
on  Pasquin,  While  London  was  still  laughing  at 
s.  iPasquin,  Fielding  produced  Lillo's  Fatal  Curiosity, 
I  and  as  at  first  this  tragedy  met  with  but  moderate 

I  success,  he  added  it  to  his  own  Historical  Register  for 

II  i^j6  in  the  following  season,  thus  securing  for  it 
I]  further  hearing. 

During  the  season  of  1737,  Fielding  developed  to 
the  full  at  the  Haymarket  his  novel  method  of  dra- 
matic satire.  The  Historical  Register  for  1736  (acted 
1737)  introduced  political  satire  in  allusions  to  Sir 
Robert  Walpole  in  the  character  of  Quidam,  theatrical 
satire  in  hits  at  Colley  and  Theophilus  Cibber,  at 
the  controversy  between  Mrs.  Clive  and  Mrs.  Cibber 
as  to  the  part  of  Polly,  and  at  the  dilemmas  of  the 
'Green  Room,'  and  social  satire,  as  in  the  parting 

1 1  am  indebted  to  Professor  W.  L.  Cross  for  copies  of  contem- 
porary playbills  of  April,  1736,  which  disprove  the  usual  assignment 
of  this  play  to  1737. 


xm  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING  ACT  221 

fling  at  the  ladies'  literary  clubs  which  seem  to  have 
espoused  the  rival  causes  of  Shakespeare  and  of  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher.  One  of  the  most  vigorous 
scenes,  that  of  the  auction,  introduces,  as  Mr.  Hen, 
the  famihar  figure  of  Cock  the  Auctioneer.  Nor 
did  Fielding  spare  himself,  for  in  Eurydice  Hissed^  or 
a  Word  to  the  Wise,  he  dealt  with  the  failure  of.  his 
own  farce  Eurydice  at  Drury  Lane. 

The  reckless  freedom  of  Fielding's  satire  was  carried  C, 
too  far  for  its  own  safety.  Whatever  the  immediate 
provocation,  it  was  largely  due  to  Fielding  that  the 
law  took  cognizance  of  the  lawlessness  of  dramatic 
satire.  In  March,  1735,  Sir  John  Barnard  had  in- 
terested himself  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  the 
question  of  restricting  the  theatres,  and,  though  his 
bill  was  finally  abandoned,  the  theatrical  situation 
came  up  for  discussion.  This  occurred  before  Pas- 
quin  and  the  Historical  Register  had  dealt  their  satiri- 
cal attacks,  especially  upon  Sir  Robert  Walpole. 
The  immediate  stimulus  to  the  Licensing  Act  is  usually  # 
held  to  have  been  an  abusive  piece,  called  The  Golden 
Rump,  which  led  Giffard,  manager  of  the  Gk)odman's 
Fields  Theatre,  to  consult  Walpole  with  immediate 
results.  According  to  some  accounts,^  even  this 
piece  is  to  be  attributed  to  Fielding.  In  any  event, 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  Walpole  recognized 
in  Fielding  his  most  dangerous  foe.  *  Religion,  Laws, 
Government,  Priests,  Judges  and  Ministers,'  de- 
clared Cibber^  bitterly,   'were  all  laid  flat,  at  the 

*  Horace  Walpole,  Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of  King  George  the  Second, 
second  edition,  revised,  1847,  I>  i3~i4)  footnote. 

*  Apology,  I,  287. 


l^ 


222  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Feet  of  this  Herculean  Satyrist !  This  Drawcansir  in 
Wit,  that  spared  neither  Friend  nor  Foe !  *  The 
Licensing  Act  of  ^737  Hmited  the  metropolitan 
theatres  to  ,two,  and  brought  plays,  prologues,  and 
epilogues  under  direct  legal  authority.  It  is  true  that 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  had  already  prohibited  some 
dramatic  pieces,^  notably  Gay's  Polly,  but  with  the 
passage  of  this  act  and  the  appointment  of  a  licenser 
under  his  jurisdiction,  in  1738,  the  Lord  Chamberlain 
was  formally  invested  with  the  censorship  of  the  stage. 
Popular  indignation  at  the  restrictions  of  the  Licensing 
Act  found  vent  in  a  riot  at  the  attempted  performance 
at  the  Haymarket,  in  October,  1738,  of  a  French  com- 
pany of  comedians  who  sought  to  fill  the  place  de- 
barred to  English  actors.  According  to  the  account  in 
The  Gentleman^ s  Magazine  (Oct.  1738),  'when  the 
Bill  appeared'  for  the  first  performance  of  these 
French  actors,  '  with  the  Word  authority  placed  at 
Top,  the  Publick  was  stung  to  the  Quick,  and 
thought  themselves  concerned  to  exert  that  Liberty 
they  enjoy,  and  to  resent  the  Affront  put  upon  them 
by  the  Chamberlain.'  Henceforth  the  London  stage 
knew  the  authority  of  the  censor. 

If  the  Licensing  Act  was  designed  tp_  check  the 
reckless  satire  of  Fielding,  it  was  successful.  The 
Haymarket  productions  of  1737  mark  the  virtual 
close  of  Fielding's  theatrical  activity.  Miss  Lucy  in 
Town  (1742),  a  short  farce  with  songs,  for  which  he 
declared  he  was  but  partly  responsible,  a  five-act 
comedy.  The  Wedding-Day  (1743),  in  which  Garrick 

*  The  Restauration  of  King  Charles  the  Second  had  been  '  forbidden 
to  be  acted,'  in  1732.    Genest,  III,  357-358. 


xm  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING  ACT  223 

took  a  leading  part,  and  the  posthumous  comedy, 
The  Fathers,  or  The  Good-Natured  Man  (1778),^  whose 
chief  interest  perhaps  Ues  in  the  subtitle  and  in  the 
Prologue  which  appeals  for  indulgence  to  the  author 
on  the  score  of  his  great  novels,  are  of  little  signifi- 
cance, and  represent  largely  early  dramatic  material. 
Perhaps  it  was  not  without  relief  that  Fielding  turned 
from  the  theatre.  He  had  written  in  haste,  and  his 
later  comment  that  he  'left  off  writing  for  the  stage 
when  he  ought  to  have  begun '^  seems  to  show  that  he 
repented  at  leisure.  In  Eurydice  Hissed,  Hones tus 
bids  the  author  whose  'farce  without  contrivance, 
without  sense'  may  win  accidental  popularity 

Think  how  you  will  be  read  in  after-times, 
When  friends  are  not,  and  the  impartial  judge 
Shall  with  the  meanest  scribbler  rank  your  name. 

The  author  of  Tom  Thumb  ^d  Pasquin  can  hardly 
suffer  such  a  fate ;  yet  his  worst  pieces  sink  to  sheer 
mediocrity. 

Fielding's  dramatic  work  forms  a  period  of  literary 
apprenticeship.  It  bears  to  his  great  novels  somewhat 
the  same  relationship  as  do  Thackeray's  burlesques 
to  his  novels.  Fielding  and  Thackeray  alike  show  in 
their  early  work  vivacity,  humour,  satire.  Yet  bur- 
lesque is  but  negative,  and  their  positive  genius  awaited 
full  expression  in  the  mature  character  portrayal  of 
their  novels.  Nevertheless,  Fielding  is  neither  a 
negligible  nor  a  wholly  destructive  force  in  English 
drama.     Careless  in  conception  and  hasty  in  execu- 

^Genest,  VI,  77,  under  30  November,  1778. 
*  Quoted  by  Austin  Dobson,  Fielding,  p.  58. 


224  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

tion  as  was  most  of  his  dramatic  work,  its  influence 
was  significant.  While  regular  comedy  was  being 
increasingly  sentimentalized  and  tragedy  moralized, 
he  let  satirical  farce  and  burlesque  trample  on  the 
five-act  formula  and  conventional  spirit  of  formal 
drama.  He  was  essentially  the  playwright  of  his  own 
day.  Even  Lillo,  who  set  his  face  against  aristocratic 
tragedy,  still  conceded  the  historic  background  in 
assigning,  nominally  at  least,  an  Elizabethan  setting 
to  The  London  Merchant,  in  placing  Fatal  Curiosity  in 
the  reign  of  James  I,  and  in  choosing  Arden  of  Fever- 
sham  as  the  theme  of  'an  historical  tragedy.'  Field- 
ing turned  to  the  immediate  present.  Contemporary 
society,  drama,  and  politics  gave  him  themes  ready 
to  hand.  Though  he  paid  some  heed  to  regular 
comedy,  especially  in  early  plays  that  follow  Con- 
greve's  general  model,  he  was  peculiarly  at  home  in 
satirical  farce.  He  developed  Gay's  'local  hits' 
at  politicians  of  the  day,  and,  Uke  his  follower  Samuel 
Foote,  carried  personal  allusion  and  innuendo  to 
daring  extremes.  Without  the  range  of  a  great 
comic  dramatist.  Fielding  heightened  farce  with  the 
zest  of  contemporary  caricature. 

Although  the  public  made  hue  and  cry  over  the  Li- 
censing Act,  the  real  danger  to  English  drama  of  that 
day  lay  deeper  than  in  the  restriction  of  its  freedom 
of  speech.  In  point  of  fact,  Samuel  Foote  was  soon 
to  show  that  not  merely  Hberty,  but  license,  of 
phrase  could  be  compassed  in  defiance  of  authority. 
The  vital  peril  to  English  drama  lay  in  its  dead  level 
of__jiiediocrity.  Constant  buffetings  from  almost 
every  quarter  had   enfeebled   its    vitaUty.     Italian 


xra  FIELDING  AND  THE  LICENSING   ACT  225 

opera,  pantomime,  burlesque,  ballad  opera,  farce, 
and  spectacle  had  sorely  wasted  the  ranks  of  regular 
comedy  and  tragedy.  Against  such  dangerous  rivals 
legitimate  drama'  could  muster  but  sorry  force. 
Comedy  showed  frequent  traces  of  Restoration  im- 
morality, but  hardly  a  sign  of  its  comic  power,  while 
the  sentiment  which  Steele  had  substituted  had  de- 
clined into  flabby  sentimentality.  Tragedy  wavered 
between  respect  for  classical  conventions  and  the 
need  of  larger  Hfe.  If  it  followed  Continental  example, 
it  was  apt  to  catch  the  chill  formaUty,  but  not  the 
stately  spirit,  of  classical  drama ;  if  it  followed  Eng- 
lish dramatic  models,  it  was  more  apt  to  imitate  their 
crudities  and  exaggerations  than  their  native  strength. 
To  the  rivals  which  it  encountered  on  the  actual 
stage  must  now  be  added  a  new  and  more  subtle 
rival  off  the  boards. 

The  Queen  Anne  age,  in  which  the  periodical  essay 
had  reached  the  height  of  popularity,  had  passed  when 
Robinson  Crusoe  (ijig)  and  Gulliver's  Travels  (1726) 
fired  the  fancy  of  English  readers.  With  the  advent 
of  Richardson's  Pamela  (1740)  the  EngHsh  novel 
began  its  great  period  of  literary  dominance.  Field- 
ing himself,  from  minor  dramatist,  became  major 
novelist  in  Joseph  Andrews  (1742),  beginning,  in 
accordance  with  his  dramatic  schoohng,  with  burlesque 
of  Richardson's  novel,  but  rising  out  of  it  into  the 
'human  comedy'  of  Parson  Adams.  As  one  looks 
askance  at  the  playbills  of  the  new  dramas  of  the 
mid-eighteenth  century,  it  is  necessary  to  recall  that, 
within  the  four  years  from  1747  to  1751,  appeared 
Richardson's  Clarissa  Harlowe,  Smollett's  Roderick 
Q 


226  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  xiii 

Random  and  Peregrine  Pickle^  and  Fielding's  Tom 
Jones  (1749),  and  that  the  first  volumes  of  Sterne's 
Tristram  Shandy  were  soon  to  follow  (17  59-1 760). 
In  the  decline  of  drama  the  novel  had  foimd  its 
opportunity. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   GARRICK  ERA 

Despite  the  formidable  foes  that  threatened  Eng- 
lish drama  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
two  powerful  forces  helped  to  sustain  the  vitality  of 
the  theatre.  These  were  the  strong  repertory  of  / 
'stock  plays'  which  maintained  the  continuity  of 
dramatic  tradition  and  the  genius  of  actors  able  to 
triumph  not  merely  in  the  successes  of  the  past  but 
even  in  the  mediocre  productions  of  contemporary 
drama.  Unlike  other  forms  of  literature,  the  drama 
is  primarily  dependent  upon  the  actual  conditions 
of  its  presentation.  Yet  this  very  circumstance 
which  has  often  militated  against  the  dramatist 
proved  in  this  crisis  his  surest  support.  It  was  the 
age  of  the  player,  not  of  the  playwright.  The  mid- 
eighteenth-century  dramatic  period  is  the  'iSarrigk.. 
era.' 

/  Though  the  record  of  David  Garrisk  (17 17-17  79) 
/belongs  primarily  to  theatrical  annals,  it  is  vitally 
connected  with  the  course  of  English  dramatic  his- 
tory. Apart  from  his  own  dramatic  productions, 
Garrick  in  an  extraordinary  measure  increased  the  < 
popularity  of  Shakespeare,  besides  partly  redeeming 
his  texts  from  current  perversions.  The  natural 
methods  of  his  art  affected  not  merely  the  old  school 
of  acting  but  the  artificiality  of  the  drama  itself. 

227 


228  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

The  son  of  a  recruiting  army  captain,  David  Garrick 
appropriately  made  his  venture  as  an  actor  about  the 
age  of  eleven,  in  the  part  of  Serjeant  Kite,  in  Far- 
quhar's  Recruiting  Officer.  There  was  little  chance 
that  Garrick,  who  had  come  under  the  tutelage  of 
Samuel  Johnson,  would  long  continue  in  his  imcle's 
trade  of  wine  merchant.  In  1740,  his  mythological 
skit,  Lethe,  was  produced  at  Drury  Lane,  and,  with 
various  alterations,  long  held  a  place  in  the  repertory. 
Though  Garrick  acted,  in  the  summer  of  1741,  with 
a  travelling  company  at  Ipswich,  he  was  refused 
admission  to  the  companies  of  Drury  Lane  and  Covent 
Garden.  But  on  19  October,  1741,  he  made  his 
historic  triumph  at  Goodman's  Fields.  In  deference 
to  the  Licensing  Act,  the  playbill  announced,  some- 
what guardedly,  that  there  would  be  performed  ^A 
Concert  of  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Music/  between 
whose  parts  would  be  presented  'an  Historical  Play, 
called  the  Life  and  Death  of  King  Richard  the  Third. '' 
Garrick  awoke  to  find  himself  famous.  London 
flocked  to  Goodman's  Fields.  The  plague  that  fell 
upon  the  rival  houses  was  the  'Garrick  fever.'  Quin, 
the  chief  tragedian  of  the  old  school,  recognized  the 
passing  of  the  old  order  of  acting  by  declaring  that, 
'if  the  young  fellow  was  right,  he,  and  the  rest  of  the 
players,  had  been  all  wrong.'  ^ 

There  is  no  need  to  detail  here  the  familiar  episodes 
of  Garrick's  Hfe  —  the  menage  with  Peg  Woffington 
and  Charles  Macklin,  the  dissensions  among  the 
Drury  Lane  actors  and  the  consequent  breach  with 
Macklin,  Garrick's  appearances  at  Covent  Garden 
1  Thomas  Davies,  Memoirs  of  Garrick^ '  New  Edition/  1780,  I,  44. 


XIV  THE   GARRICK   ERA  22g 

and  at  Dublin,  and  his  final  installation,  with  Lacy, 
as  manager  of  Drury  Lane  in  1747.  It  will  suffice 
to  indicate  some  of  the  ways  in  which  his  dominance 
as  actor  and  manager  affected  the  course  of  EngUsh 
drama.  Highly  suggestive  is  the  picture  by  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  which  shows  Garrick  torn  between 
the  rival  Muses  of  Tragedy  and  Comedy.  From 
Richard  III  he  turned  to  the  part  of  Clodio,  in  Gib- 
ber's early  comedy,  Love  makes  a  Man  ;  from  Ghamont 
in  Otway's  Orphan  to  Jack  Smatter,  in  Dance's 
dramatization  of  Richardson's  Pamela;  from  char- 
acters in  his  own  Lethe  and  in  his  farce.  The  Lying 
Valet,  to  Lothario  in  Rowe's  Fair  Penitent.  During 
his  first  season  he  acted  also  such  different  roles  as 
the  Ghost  in  Hamlet,  Fondlewife  in  Gongreve's  Old 
Bachelor,  and  Witwoud  in  his  Way  of  the  World,  Aboan 
in  Southerne's  Oronooko,  Gostar  Pearmain,  and  later 
Gaptain  Brazen,  in  Farquhar's  Recruiting  Officer, 
Bayes  in  The  Rehearsal,^  Lear,  Pierre  in  Otway's 
Venice  Preserved,  and  Lord  Foppington  in  Gibber's 
Careless  Husband. 

Such  a  record  proves  more  than  Garrick 's  extraordi- 1 
nary  versatility  and  his  impartiality  as  towards 
tragedy  and  comedy.  It  shows  the  remarkable 
dependence  of  the  theatre  upon  the  drama  of  the 
past.  If  it  be  argued  that  Garrick 's  record  is  an  ex- 
ceptional instance  and  proves  little  more  than  an 
actor's  natural  prudence  in  adhering  to  established 
successes,  it  may  be  answered  that  Garrick's  name 

*  Garrick  made  this  one  of  his  most  popular  comic  parts,  introduc- 
ing imitations  of  various  actors  of  the  day  in  the  passages  where 
Bayes  instructs  the  players  how  to  speak  their  lines. 


230  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

would  have  been  sufficient  magnet  for  any  novelty. 
An  interesting  indication  of  the  public  insistence  upon 
the  appearance  of  their  favourite  is  in  the  Prologue 
to  Fielding's  Wedding-Day,  where  Macklin,  humor- 
ously apologizing  because  Garrick  does  not  speak 
the  prologue,  prefaces  the  announcement  with  the 
assurance  that  he  'performs  a  principal  character 
in  the  play.'  Furthermore,  despite  inevitable  vari- 
ations in  acting  repertory  from  year  to  year,  Genest's 
Drury  Lane  Hsts,  perhaps  the  most  representative 
of  the  status  of  regular  drama,  show  from  the  season 
of  1 7  34-1 73  5  onward  to  Garrick's  time  remarkable  de- 
pendence on  stock  drama.  The  poverty  of  dramatic 
novelties  was  counterbalanced  by  the  wealth  of  suc- 
cessful stock  plays. 

One  especial  feature  of  Garrick's  revivals,  of  earlier, 
drama  merits  especial  notice  —  his  Shakespearean 
productions.  Shakespeare  had,  indeed,  recovered 
in  part  from  the  sorry  treatment  to  which  he  had 
been  subjected  in  Restoration  alterations.  The 
early  eighteenth  century  had  not  hesitated  to  adapt 
or  remake  Shakespeare  after  its  own  fashion,  as  in 
Dennis's  versions  of  The  Merry  Wives  and  Coriolanus  ^ 
or  in  Gibber's  theatrically  successful  Richard  III, 
but  as  the  century  advanced  there  was  a  growing 
tendency  to  revert  toward  the  original  texts.  To 
this  the  increase  of  critical  editions  of  Shakespeare's 
works  inevitably  contributed.  Before  the  middle 
of  the  century,  Rowe's  pioneer  work  had  been  fol- 

1  Entitled  respectively,  The  Comical  Gallant,  or  The  Amours  of  Sir 
John  Falstafe  (1702),  and  The  Invader  of  his  Country,  or  The  Fatal 
Resentment  (1720). 


XIV  THE  GARRICK   ERA  231"^ 

lowed  by  the  critical  work  of  Pope,  Theobald,  Hanmer, 
and  Warburton.  Even  before  the  advent  of  Garrick, 
there  were  not  wanting  signs  of  increasing  response 
on  the  part  of  theatregoers  to  productions  of  Shake- 
speare. In  February,  1738,  Rich,  who  had  in  pre- 
vious seasons  given  over  Covent  Garden  largely  to 
such  varied  attractions  as  pantomime,  French  danc- 
ing, opera,  and  the  long  series  of  performances  of 
Handel's  oratorios  and  operas,  began  a  noteworthy 
succession  of  Shakespearean  revivals.  Plays  like 
Richard  II,  Henry  IV,  Part  II,  Henry  V,  and  Henry 
VI,  Part  I,  set  down  loosely  in  the  playbills  as  not 
acted  for  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  probably  in  some 
cases  not  really  acted  for  a  much  longer  period,  were 
produced  within  six  weeks.  The  inclusion  in  the 
series  of  King  John,  'as  written  by  Shakespeare,' 
recalls  a  suggestive  bit  of  theatrical  history.  The 
year  previous  Gibber  had  put  into  rehearsal  at  Drury 
Lane  his  alteration  of  King  John,  but  'so  much  had 
been  said  by  the  critics,  who  wrote  against  Gibber, 
in  commendation  of  the  original  play,'  ^  that  not 
merely  did  Gibber  withdraw  his  piece  but  Rich,  al- 
ways alert  to  cater  to  the  taste  of  the  moment,  success- 
fully revived  the  original  play  at  Govent  Garden. 
Pope,  in  The  Dunciad,  with  the  line  'King  John  in 
silence  modestly  expires,'  and  Fielding,  in  The  His- 
torical Register,  in  the  scene  where  Ground-Ivy  ex- 

1  Genest,  III,  504.  The  sequel  to  this  incident  is  curious.  On  15 
February,  1745,  Gibber's  version,  entitled  Papal  Tyranny  in  the  Reign 
of  King  John,  was  produced  at  Covent  Garden,  and  was  immediately 
answered  by  the  Drury  Lane  revival  of  Shakespeare's  play,  both 
versions  attaining  a  number  of  performances.  Genest,  IV,  146, 
158-162. 


232  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

plains  at  length  how  to  alter  King  John,  effectively 
ridiculed  Gibber's  abihty  to  'alter  Shakespeare  for 
the  worse.'  'It  was  a  maxim  of  mine,'  says  Ground- 
Ivy,  'that  no  play,  though  ever  so  good,  would  do 
without  alteration.' 
^  From  the  Restoration  period  onward,  Shakespeare's 
leading  tragedies  had  constantly  triumphed  over 
the  mutilations  of  revisers  and  the  inanities  of  critics, 
but  the  comedies,  with  the  exception  of  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor,  had  been  habitually  sUghted.  With 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  Shakespearean  comedies 
fared  better.  In  the  Drury  Lane  season,  1 740-1741, 
that  preceded  Garrick's  advent,  there  were  revivals 
oi  As  You  Like  It,  Twelfth  Night,  both  parts  of  Henry 
IV,  and,  most  notably,  of  The  Merchant  of  Venice. 
Macklin  discarded  not  merely  Lord  Lansdowne's 
current  text  in  favour  of  Shakespeare's  but  the  tradi- 
tional admixture  of  low  comedy  in  the  conception  of 
Shylock.  Notwithstanding  general  prophecies  of 
failure,  Macklin  won  a  triumph  which  is  familiar 
from  the  couplet  popularly  ascribed  to  Pope: 

This  is  the  Jew- 
That  Shakespeare  drew. 

Thus,  even  before  the  appearance  of  Garrick,  there 
was  evidence  of  growing  thoroughness  in  the  appre- 
ciation of  Shakespeare's  dramatic  genius  and  of 
increasing  fidehty  to  his  text  and  spirit.  The  day 
had  long  since  passed  when  two  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  pieces  were  produced  to  one  of  Shake- 
speare's. 
Though  the  test  of  time  had  already  established 


XIV  THE  GARRICK   ERA  233 

Shakespeare's  supremacy  among  the  earlier  English 
dramatists,  Garrick  powerfully  confirmed  his  popu-«f 
larity  with  theatregoers.  As  arbiter  of  Drury  Lane, 
it  lay  in  Garrick's  power  to  set  the  fashion,  and  he 
set  it  decisively.  As  manager,  he  produced  more  \ 
than  a  score  of  Shakespeare's  dramas,  and,  as  actor, 
took  part  in  the  great  majority  of  these  productions. 
For  the  most  part  his  influence  was  highly  beneficial,  t 
but  he  did  not  wholly  shake  off  the  bad  habits  of 
some  of  his  predecessors.  Though  he  largely  re- 
stored the  original  texts  of  various  plays,  he  was 
not  without  the  actor's  craving  for  theatrical  situa- 
tion. When  he  substituted  Romeo  and  Juliet,  in 
1748,  for  Otway's  popular  Caius  Marius,  he  took  the 
hint  from  Otway's  melodramatic  device  of  awaken- 
ing Lavinia  in  the  tomb  before  the  death  of  Young 
Marius.  He  even  ventured  to  lay  violent  hands  on 
Hamlet,  which  had  been  shielded  from  adaptation 
largely  by  the  tradition  of  Betterton's  acting,  though 
according  to  Davies,^  his  '  audience  did  not  approve 
what  they  barely  endured.'  Early  in  1756,  he  pro- 
duced within  a  month  alterations  of  three  Shake- 
spearean comedies.  If  to  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew 
he  applied  the  pruning-knife,  it  was,  in  Puff's  phrase, 
Hhe  axe'  that  he  set  to  The  Winter's  Tale,  lopping 
from  it  most  of  the  first  three  acts,  though  professing 
in  the  Prologue  to  his  '  Dramatic  Pastoral,'  Florizel 
and  Perdita : 

'Tis  my  chief  Wish,  my  Joy,  my  only  Plan, 
To  lose  no  Drop  of  that  immortal  Man  ! 

*  Thomas  Davies,  Dramatic  Miscellanies,  1784,  III,  146. 


234  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Still  less  defensible  was  the  operatic  version  of  The 
Tempest,  a  sorry  mixture  of  Shakespeare  and  Dry  den, 
for  which  Garrick  was  responsible  as  manager,  if 
not  as  compiler  also.  In  a  Dissertation,  too  frank 
for  full  quotation,  Theophilus  Gibber  unsparingly 
attacked  these  very  alterations  of  Garrick,  and  de- 
manded, 'Were  Shakespear^s  Ghost  to  rise,  wou'd 
he  not  frown  Indignation,  on  this  pilfering  Pedlar 
in  Poetry  —  who  thus  shamefully  mangles,  mutilates, 
and  emasculates  his  Plays  ? '  ^  Gibber,  to  be  sure, 
argued  rather  from  Garrick's  most  flagrant  excep- 
tions than  from  his  usual  rule,  but  there  is  danger 
of  exaggerating  the  fidelity  of  the  actor's  adherence 
to  Shakespeare's  original  texts.  A  fairer  view  would 
be  that,  if  Garrick  sinned  at  times,  he  was  one  to 
whom  much  should  be  forgiven.  If  he  frequently 
violated  the  letter,  he  nobly  served  the  spirit,  of  his 
master.  The  stimulus  which  he  gave  to  Shake- 
speare's popularity  at  Drury  Lane  directly  affected 
the  rival  house.  In  1750,  Barry,  Macklin,  and  Mrs. 
Gibber  at  Govent  Garden  produced  Romeo  and  Juliet 
in  nightly  rivalry  for  almost  a  fortnight  with  Garrick, 
Woodward,  and  Miss  Bellamy  at  Drury  Lane,  and 
in  1756,  the  struggle  between  the  Lears  of  the 
two  great  Patent  Theatres  brought  forth  such  epi- 
grams as: 

A  King  —  nay,  every  inch  a  King; 
Such  Barry  doth  appear : 

But  Garrick's  quite  a  different  thing ; 
He's  every  inch  King  Lear.^ 

*  Dissertations  on  Theatrical  Subjects^  1756,  p.  36. 
2  Genest,  IV,  469.     See  also  Theophilus  Gibber,  op.  cit., '  Second 
Dissertation,'  pp.  43-47. 


:av  THE  GARRICK  ERA  235 

The  increasing  recognition  of  Shakespeare  naturally- 
had  its  bearings  on  the  English  attitude  toward 
French  drama  and  dramatic  standards.  The  success  < 
of  Ambrose  Philips  in  The  Distrest  Mother  had  stimu- 
lated more  than  a  dozen  translations  of  plays  by 
Pierre  and  Thomas  Comeille  and  by  Racine  within 
eighteen  years.  But  from  the  appearance  of  William 
Hatchett's  Rival  Father  (1730),  a  version  of  Thomas 
Corneille's  La  Mort  d^Achille,  twenty  years  elapsed 
before  interest  revived  in  translation  from  French 
classical  drama.  During  this  interval  The  Distrest 
Mother  continued  to  hold  the  stage,  but  not  even 
Voltaire^s  superlatives  about  Cato  could  reawaken 
fully  the  old  enthusiasm  for  the  classical  school  of 
Philips  and  Addison. 

The  deference  at  first  accorded  to  Voltaire's  critical< 
opinions  had  likewise  perceptibly  lessened.  The  very- 
men  who  adapted  Voltaire's  plays  to  the  English 
stage  flatly  proclaimed  his  indebtedness  to  Shake- 
speare, and  resented  both  the  substance  and  the  tone 
of  his  strictures  on  English  drama.  In  the  Advertise- 
ment to  Merope  (1749),  Aaron  Hill  says  of  Voltaire: 
'  So  much  over-active  Sensibility,  to  his  own  Country's 
Claims :  With  so  unfeeling  a  Stupidity,  in  judging  the 
Pretensions  of  his  Neighbors,  might  absolve  all  Indig- 
nation, short  of  gross  Indecency ;  toward  one  who  has 
not  scrupled  ...  to  represent  the  English  as  incapa- 
ble of  Tragedy;  nay,  even  of  Painting,  or  of  Musick.'^ 
Even  Arthur  Murphy,  whose  Orphan  of  China  (1759) 

^  Quoted  by  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  p.  153.  The 
whole  chapter,  'Resentment  of  the  English/  is  particularly  valu- 
able. 


236  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

was  the  most  successful  of  the  later  English  adapta- 
tions of  Voltaire's  tragedies,  tempered  his  general 
praise  of  Voltaire  by  observing:  ^We  islanders  have 
remarked  of  late  that  M.  de  Voltaire  has  a  particu- 
lar satisfaction  in  descanting  on  the  faults  of  the  most 
wonderful  genius  that  ever  existed  since  Homer.'  ^ 
The  plain  speech  of  Voltaire's  translators  became  in 
less  friendly  mouths  violent  denunciation.  In  1747, 
Foote  vigorously  attacked  Voltaire  as  Hhat  insolent 
French  Panegyrist,  who  first  denies  Shakespear  al- 
most every  Dramatic  Excellence,  and  then,  in  his  next 
Play,  pilfers  from  him  almost  every  capital  Scene,'  and 
pictured  him  in  his  dual  r61e  of  critic  and  dramatist 
as  'the  carping  superficial  Critic  and  the  low  paltry 
Thief.'  2 
4k  Extreme  bursts  of  patriotic  ire  must  not,  however, 
be  mistaken  for  proof  of  general  contempt  for  Voltaire. 
Garrick  himself  acted  in  Mahomet,  Merope,  and  The 
Orphan  of  China,  appearing  eleven  times  in  the  second 
and  nine  times  in  the  last  of  these  plays  during  their 
first  seasons.^  Other  adaptations  of  Voltaire's  trage- 
dies were  essayed,  though  with  less  success,  in  Orestes 
(1768),  Almida  and  Zoheide  (1771),  and  Semiramis 
(1776).  These  versions,  though  varying  considerably 
in  point  of  adherence  to  their  originals,  in  general 
show  compromise  between  French  restrictions  and 
English  freedom.  Voltaire  himself,  under  Shake- 
speare's influence,  had  relaxed  the  letter  of  the  classical 

*  Quoted  by  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire,  p.  150. 
2  The  Roman  and  English  Comedy  Considered  and  Compared,  1747, 
pp.  21-22. 

'  Figures  based  on  Genest,  IV,  269,  272,  549,  555* 


XIV  THE  GARRICK  ERA  237 

law,  even  permitting  the  introduction  of  ghosts  in 
Eriphyle  and  Semiramis.  His  adapters  did  not 
hesitate  to  abridge  long  declamatory  speeches,  to 
invigorate  the  action,  and  to  break  over  various  minor 
conventions  of  classical  drama.  Some  of  Voltaire's 
comedies  had  an  English  rendering,  as  in  Murphy's 
No  One^s  Enemy  hut  His  Own  (1764),  founded  on 
VIndiscret,  and  in  Colman's  successful  version  of 
UEcossaise  in  The  English  Merchant  (1767).  Vol- 
taire thus  continued  through  the  third  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  contribute  to  English  drama; 
but  few  of  his  pieces  attracted  more  than  temporary 
interest,  and  some  were  actual  failures.  Merope  had 
occasional  revival  at  Drury  Lane  and  seems  to  have 
inspired  John  Hoole's  Cyrus  (1768).  The  Orphan  of 
China  was  reproduced,  with  indifferent  success,  at 
Covent  Garden  in  1777,  and  at  Dublin  in  1810.  Yet, 
in  point  of  actual  stage  popularity,  even  these  dramas 
did  not  surpass  some  of  the  native  English  tragedies 
of  the  day.  Occasional  tragedies,  such  as  Murphy's 
Alzuma  (1773),  show  the  continued  influence  of  Vol- 
taire; but  playwrights  were  more  ready  to  imitate 
than  the  pubUc  was  to  applaud  such  borrowings. 
On  the  critical  side,  Voltaire's  extreme  censures  of 
Shakespeare  met  with  increasing  disfavour,  yet  his 
influence  counted  strongly  in  maintaining  the  belief 
that  Shakespeare's  now  indisputable  supremacy  was 
the  triumph  of  genius  over  the  canons  of  dramatic 
art.  Great  as  was  the  progress  of  Shakespeare's 
reputation  during  the  Garrick  era,  it  was  not  yet  fully 
understood  that  he  was  not  merely  a  great  dramatist 
but  a  great  dramatic  artist. 


\ 


238  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Shakespeare's  popularity  did  not  lead  to  the  general 
adoption  of  Elizabethan  models  by  the  dramatists  of 
the  Garrick  era.  The  publication,  in  1744,  of  Dods- 
ley's  famous  collection  of  old  plays,  which  with  few 
exceptions  antedate  the  Restoration,  is  evidence 
chiefly  of  awakening  literary  interest  in  the  history  of 
earlier  English  drama.  An  occasional  adaptation 
like  Garrick's  Gamesters  (1757),  altered  from  Shirley's 
Gamester,  seems  somewhat  accidental.  Otway,  South- 
eme,  and  Rowe  were  greater  favourites  in  tragedy 
than  any  of  the  Elizabethans  save  Shakespeare.  Yet 
such  English  examples  hardly  seem  to  have  drawn 
such  deliberate  imitation  as  is  discernible  in  plays 
that  follow  the  classical  model. 

In  Irene  (1749),  I)r.  Samuel  Johnson  (i  709-1 784) 
produced  a  chill  tragedy  which  not  even  the  loyal 
efforts  of  his  former  pupil,  Garrick,  could  warm  into 
real  vitaHty.  The  scene  set  in  Constantinople  after 
its  fall  has  the  faint  local  colour  to  be  found  in  the  old 
heroic  tragedies,  and  the  theme,  which  turns  on  the 
temptation  of  the  Greek  maiden  Irene  by  the  offer  of 
a  throne  rejected  by  the  more  loyal  Aspasia,  is  equally 
aloof  from  ordinary  Hfe.  The  moraHzing  spirit  of 
sentimental  drama  finds  expression  in  such  precepts 
as  'Angelic  Greatness  is  Angelic  Virtue,'  and 

Be  virtuous  Ends  pursued  by  virtuous  Means, 
Nor  think  th'  Intention  sanctifies  the  Deed.^ 

At  the  end  the  didactic  note  is  apparent  in  the  lines 
which  proclaim  'the  Justice  of  all-conscious  Heav'n.' 

1  These  are  but  two  of  the  maxims  inflicted  upon  Lrene  by  Aspasia 
(ni,  8).     See  1749  edition,  pp.  42,  44. 


XIV  THE   GARRICK  ERA  239 

One  is  tempted  to  borrow  from  Johnson's  Prologue 
spoken  by  Garrick  at  the  opening  of  Drury  Lane,  in 
1747,  some  of  the  Hnes  in  which  he  brought  his 
excellent  review  of  English  drama  down  toward  his 
own  day : 

Then  crush'd  by  Rules,  and  weaken'd  as  refin'd, 
For  Years  the  Pow'r  of  Tragedy  declin'd ; 
From  Bard,  to  Bard,  the  frigid  Caution  crept. 
Till  Declamation  roar'd,  while  Passion  slept. 

Though  declamation  did  not  roar  with  Garrick,  pas- 
sion slept  with  Irene. 

In  1750,  William  Whitehead  (17 15-1785),  later 
poet  laureate,"  in  a  version  of  Horace  entitled  The 
Rqmmi!  Father  won  a  success  only  second  to  that  of 
The  Distrest  Mother  among  the  English  versions  of 
French  classical  tragedy.  For  half  a  century  The 
Roman  Father  remained  a  stock  play,  and  its  success 
was  doubtless  the  chief  stimulus  to  some  eight  or  ten 
other  translations  from  the  dramas  of  Pierre  and 
Thomas  Corneille  and  Racine  during  the  last  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

Of  original  dramatic  power  there  are  few  traces  in 
the  tragedies  of  the  Garrick  era.  Never  perhaps  in 
English  dramatic  history  has  the  poverty  of  the  play- 
wright been  so  generously  aided  by  the  wealth  of  the 
actor.  The  new  tragedies  which  won  success  in  the 
first  decade  after  the  mid-century  include,  besides 
Moore's  Gamester  which  has  been  discussed  previously, 
Jones's  Earl  of  Essex  (1753),  Crisp's  Virginia  (1754), 
Brown's  Barbarossa  (1754),  and  Home's  Douglas 
(1756).     Of  these  the  first   reworks    the   theme   of 


240  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Banks's  Unhappy  Favourite,  which  still  held  the  stage 
and  had  been  produced  that  very  season,  and  the  sec- 
ond and  third  gave  to  Garrick  the  parts  in  which  he 
most  frequently  appeared  during  their  respective  sea- 
sons of  1 753-1754  and  1 754-1 7 55.  Crisp's  Virginia,  a 
mediocre  handling  of  a  familiar  dramatic  subject, 
probably  suggested  Moncrief's  Appius  (1755).  The 
part  of  Achmet  in  Barbarossa,  which  Garrick  played 
no  less  than  sixteen  times  in  its  first  season,  was  that 
in  which '  Master  Betty,'  the '  Young  Roscius,'  made  his 
extraordinary  London  debut  at  Co  vent  Garden,  in  1804. 
w  John  Home  (172 2-1808),  a  Scotch  minister  who 
eventually  paid  for  dramatic  enterprise  in  the  en- 
forced resignation  of  his  clerical  charge,  obtained  in 
liSMil^s  (1756,  Edinburgh;  1757,  London)  a  success 
that  led  some  enthusiasts  to  hail  him  as  the  'Scotch 
Shakespeare.'  His  first  dramatic  ventures  promised 
little.  While  settled  in  his  East  Lothian  parish  he 
wrote  a  tragedy,  Agis,  which  Garrick  rejected.  In 
1755  he  travelled  to  London  on  horseback  with  the 
manuscript  of  Douglas,  only  to  encounter  another 
rejection  from  Garrick.  But  Home  was  a  prophet 
who  found  honour  in  his  own  country.  In  December, 
1756,  Douglas  was  produced  in  Edinburgh  and  be- 
came a  national  triumph.  A  few  months  later,  Rich 
produced  it  at  Covent  Garden  ^  with  Barry  and  Peg 
Woffington,  and  its  success  led  Garrick  to  accept  Agis, 
Later  tragedies.  The  Siege  of  Aquileia  (1760),  The 
^Moi^PJscovery   (1769),  AIouM-  (i773)j   2-nd  Alfred 

^Its  initial  success  in  London  has  at  times  been  exaggerated. 
Genest,  IV,  495,  under  date  of  28  April,  1757,  records  its  'gth  and  last 
time'  of  production  that  season. 


XIV  THE   GARRICK  ERA  241 

(1778),   met   with   indifferent   reception   or   failure. 
Home's  fame  rested  on  his  one  great  triumph. 

In  the  barren  ground  of  Scotch  drama  it  is  not 
surprising  that  Douglas  seemed  an  oasis.  The  famil- 
iar ancedote  of  the  Scotchman  who  was  said  to  have 
risen  in  the  pit  triumphantly  with  the  words,  ^Weel, 
lads;  what  think  ye  of  Wully  Shakespeare  noo/ 
reflects  more  patriotism  than  judgment.  Yet  Thomas 
Gray,  in  a  letter,  August,  1757,  declared^:  'I  am 
greatly  struck  with  ''  The  Tragedy  of  Douglas ; " 
though  it  has  infinite  faults :  The  Author  seems  to 
me  to  have  retrieved  the  true  Language  of  the  stage, 
which  had  been  lost  for  these  hundred  years,  and 
there  is  one  scene  (between  Matilda  and  the  old 
Peasant)  so  masterly,  that  it  strikes  me  bHnd  to  all  the 
defects  in  the  world. '  The  philosopher  Hume  ascribed 
to  his  friend  Home  '  the  true  theatric  genius  of  Shake- 
spear  and  Otway,  refined  from  the  unhappy  barbarism 
of  the  one,  and  licentiousness  of  the  other. '^  If  this 
extraordinary  verdict  showed  that  there  were  more 
things  in  heaven  and  earth  than  were  dreamt  of  in 
Hume's  philosophy,  it  was  counterbalanced  by 
Doctor  Johnson's  severe  dictum  that  '  there  were  not 
ten  good  lines  in  the  whole  play.'  ^  At  all  events,  its 
stage  success  was  indisputable.  Home  received  a 
gold  medal  from  Thomas  Sheridan,  a  pension  from 
the  Princess  of  Wales,  and  the  plaudits  of  the  pit. 

^The  Letters  of  Thomas  Gray,  edited  by  D.  C.  Tovey,  1900-1912, 
I>  335 >  footnote  2.  Genest,  who  says  Gray's  letter  was  to  Walpole, 
has  (IV,  490)  many  variants  in  his  text. 

2  The  Philosophical  Works  of  David  Hume,  edited  by  Green  and 
Grose,  1874-1875,  III,  67. 

"  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson,  Hill  edition,  1887,  V,  360. 


242  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

To-day  Douglas  is  remembered  chiefly  by  Young 
NorvaPs  speech,  long  a  favourite  piece  for  declamation, 
'My  name  is  Norval:  on  the  Grampian  hills,  My 
father  feeds  his  flocks '  (II,  i ) .  The  extravagant  praises 
of  Home's  contemporaries  have  sometimes  reacted 
nowadays  against  a  fair  appraisal  of  the  play.  In 
contrast  with  the  frigid  dulness  of  many  classical 
imitations,  Douglas  strikes  a  distinctly  romantic  note. 
As  the  successor  of  Robert  Blair,  author  oi  The  Grave j 
in  his  East  Lothian  parish,  and  the  friend  to  whom 
William  Collins  inscribed  his  Ode  on  the  Popular 
Superstitions  of  the  Highlands,  Home  had  breathed  a 
romantic  atmosphere.  Douglas  is  based  on  the  old 
ballad,  'Child  Maurice'  — the  Scotch  'Gil  Morrice' 
which  found  a  place  in  Percy's  Reliques.  The  tone  of 
brooding  melancholy  and  the  touches  of  nature,  which 
differentiate  its  background  from  the  unreal  foreign 
setting  of  so  many  conventional  tragedies,  impart  to 
Douglas  a  novel  tinge  of  romanticism.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  detect  flaws  in  its  dramatic  construction. 
Action  sometimes  gives  way  to  declamation,  and 
the  scene  between  Lady  Randolph  and  her  confidante, 
Anna,  handles  exposition  in  a  fashion  so  artless  that 
Sheridan  may  have  taken  a  hint  from  it  for  Tilburina 
and  her  confidante  in  The  Critic.  Sheridan,  also, 
may  have  burlesqued  some  passages,  such  as  Lady 
Randolph's  utterances  and  Young  Norval's  familiar 
lines.^  But  such  parody  would  at  least  attest  the 
continued  stage  popularity  of  Douglas.  The  frequent 
suggestion  that  Garrick  rejected  the  tragedy  because 

*  See  for  specific  discussion,  the  present  writer's  Major  Dramas  of 
Sheridan f  Introduction,  pp.  ciii-cv,  and  Notes,  p.  312. 


XIV  THE  GARRICK  ERA  243 

he  feared  that  his  part  might  be  overshadowed  is 
open  to  question,  but  it  is  certain  that  Mrs.  Siddons 
scored  a  triumph  as  Lady  Randolph.  Amid  the 
tragedies  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  two  stand  forth  distinctly.  In 
The  Gamester,  Moore  continued  Lillo's  tendency 
toward  prose  realistic  tragedy.  In  Douglas,  Home 
struck  a  note  of  romantic  tragedy  which  seems  pre- 
monitory of  the  romantic  movement  late  in  the  cen- 
tury. 

The  classical  tragedies  of  William  Mason  (1724- 
1797)  belong,  in  a  sense,  to  literary  rather  than  to 
dramatic  history.  Yet  their  ultimate,  though  long- 
delayed,  production  at  Covent  Garden  entitles  them 
to  some  consideration  here.  Mason  was  one  of  the 
Cambridge  set  of  'polite  scholars'  among  whom  was 
numbered  his  friend,  Thomas  Gray.  His  classical 
tastes  found  expression  in  his  dramatic  poem  Elfrida, 
published  in  1752.  Twenty  years  later,  without  the 
author's  consent,  George  Colman  altered  it  for  the 
stage  with  sufficient  success  to  justify  more  than 
a  score  of  performances.  Not  content  with  Colman's 
version.  Mason  himself  revised  the  piece  for  a  later 
production  (1779),  also  at  Covent  Garden.  Qarac- 
tacus,  'Written  on  the  Model  of  The  Ancient  Greek 
Tragedy,'  printed  in  1759,  was  acted,  with  the  author's 
revisions,  in  1776,  fourteen  times.  Mason's  classical 
tragedies  are  more  noteworthy  for  form  than  for  sub- 
stance. He  built  on  the  Knes  of  Greek  tragedy,  with 
deference  to  the  dramatic  unities  and  to  the  classical 
distaste  for  violent  action,  and  with  a  fondness  for 
the  introduction  of   Greek  choruses  which   his  own 


244  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  xiv 

alterations  for  the  stage  recognize  as  unwise.  His 
verse  shows  the  influence  of  Milton  and  Gray,  but  at 
best  reproduces  external  form  without  poetic  content. 
Yet  his  dramatic  shortcomings  are  those  of  his  age. 
Not  the  play,  but  the  player  dominated  the  Garrick 
era. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   LIGHTER  DRAMA   OF   THE   GARRICK  ERA 

The  general  poverty  of  original  English  drama  ^ 
during  the  mid-eighteenth  century  is  apparent  in 
comedy  as  well  as  in  tragedy.  A  few  regular  comedies 
still  show  the  partial  survival  of  the  vis  comica  of 
earlier  drama.  Benjamin  Hoadley's  comedy,  The  Sus- 
picious Husband  (1747),  whose  initial  run  of  a  dozen 
successive  nights  was  but  the  beginning  of  Garrick's 
long-continued  success  in  the  part  of  Ranger,  became 
a  stock  drama.  The  Jealous  Wife,  The  Clandestine 
Marriage,  and  occasional  comedies  of  less  signij&cance 
are  welcome  proof  that  the  earHer  comic  tradition  did 
not  wholly  disappear  under  the  wave  of  moralized 
sentiment.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the 
comic  spirit  found  constant  expression  in  the  stage 
revivals  of  earlier  masterpieces.  The  genius  of 
comedy  was  not  dead  in  an  age  that  knew  David 
Garrick  as  Abel  Drugger  in  The  Alchemist.  Yet,  for 
the  most  part,  laughter  felt  so  constrained  in  the 
formal  Hmits  of  five  acts  that  it  sought  free  outlet  in 
the  larger  Hcense  of  farce,  burlesque,  and  pantomime. 

Throughout  the  Garrick  era,  regular  drama  found  <, 
constant  rivals  for  popular  favour  in  pantomime,  far- 
cical entertainment,  and  spectacle.     After  the  seces- 
sion of  Barry  and  Mrs.  Gibber  to  Covent  Garden, 
Garrick  reopened  his  theatre,  in  September,   1750, 

245 


246  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

with  a  prologue  which  pronounced  Drury  Lane  sacred 
to  Shakespeare,  but  declared  his  willingness  to  cater 
to  popular  demand  if  Harlequin  was  preferred  to  Ham- 
let and  the  stage  carpenter  to  the  dramatic  poet. 
In  point  of  fact,  he  produced  that  season  with  con- 
spicuous success  ^a  new  Entertainment,  in  Italian 
Grotesque  characters,  called  Queen  Mob,''  with  Wood- 
ward as  Harlequin.  Once  Garrick  even  overshot 
the  mark  in  *a  new  grand  Entertainment  of  Dancing 
called  The  Chinese  FestivaV  (1755),  an  elaborate 
spectacle  'with  new  music,  scenes,  machines,  habits, 
and  other  decorations,'  and  a  large  company  of  per- 
formers. The  inclusion  of  a  number  of  foreign  dancers 
was  made  the  occasion  of  a  series  of  serious  riots,  and 
led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  piece  after  its  sixth 
performance. 

At  Covent  Garden,  through  the  ups  and  downs  of 
his  long  managerial  career.  Rich  relied  on  pantomime 
as  his  surest  support.  Upon  one  of  his  great  successes, 
Orpheus  and  Eurydice  (1740),  he  spent  about  two 
thousand  pounds.  This  piece,  which  may  sufficiently 
illustrate  the  general  nature  of  Rich's  entertainments, 
is  part  opera  and  part  comedy,  and  includes  among 
the  comic  characters  in  the  pantomime  Harlequin, 
Pantaloon,  Columbine,  Squire  Gawky  and  his  mother, 
and  Pantaloon's  servant.  Its  most  famous  spec- 
tacular device  was  the  mechanical  serpent  whose  busi- 
ness was  to  pierce  Eurydice's  heel.  Rich  also  made 
capital  out  of  the  revival,  in  1759,  of  The  Beggar^ s 
Opera,  which,  apart  from  the  interruption  of  the 
habitual  performance  of  Rowe's  *  Fifth  of  November 
play'   Tamerlane,   ran  for   thirty-seven   consecutive 


XV        LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA       247 

nights.  Thus,  though  in  a  large  sense  Shakespeare 
dominated  the  drama  as  Garrick  did  the  theatre  of 
the  day,  their  supremacy  was  resolutely  challenged. 
The  conflict  between  regular  drama  and  its  less 
dignified  rivals  was  not  seldom  settled  by  a  practical 
compromise.  As  Restoration  tragedy  had  frequently 
its  coarsely  comic  epilogue,  eighteenth-century  drama 
was  often  capped  with  a  comic  afterpiece.  Panto- 
mime, burlesque,  farce,  and  operetta  proved  well 
adapted  for  this  purpose.  Pieces  of  two  or  three  acts, 
often  so  nondescript  in  character  that  they  are  loosely 
described  as  ' entertainments,'  found  ready  favour.  As 
this  practice  of  the  theatres  increased  in  popularity, 
even  so  considerable  a  play  as  Sheridan's  Critic  was 
produced  as  an  afterpiece.  Colley  Gibber  reluctantly 
admitted  pantomimes  'as  crutches  to  our  weakest 
plays,'  and  his  fellow-manager  Booth,  with  an  eye  to 
the  box-office,  found  no  harm  in  an  addition  to  the 
evening's  entertainment  which  greatly  enlarged  the 
audience  for  regular  drama.  When  the  increase  of 
prices  on  pantomime  nights  was  declared  an  imposi- 
tion upon  the  patrons  of  regular  drama,  the  Drury 
Lane  management  met  the  objection,  as  early  as  1734, 
by  allowing  'the  advanced  money  to  be  returned  to 
those  who  go  out  before  the  Overture  of  the  Enter- 
tainment begins '  —  a  custom  whose  long  continuance 
is  presumptive  proof  that  no  serious  financial  loss  re- 
sulted.^   The  Drury  Lane  playbill  for  28  December, 

1  *It  may  be  questioned  if  there  was  a  demand  for  the  return  of  £20 
in  10  years.'  Genest,  III,  158.  See  Genest,  III,  441-442,  under  date 
of  14  December,  1734,  as  to  the  return  of  advanced  money.  On  that 
occasion  Farquhar's  Recruiting  Officer  was  followed  by  a  'Pantomime 
called  Merlin,  or  the  Devil  at  Stone-Henge.' 


248  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

1744,  reproduced  by  Genest/  repeats  substantially 
the  same  announcement,  and  will  serve  as  sufficient 
illustration  of  the  connection  between  formal  drama 
and  the  afterpiece  in  actual  stage  representation. 
To  the  drama  for  the  evening,  Steele's  Conscious 
Lovers,  was  added  'a  Pantomime  Entertainment  calFd 
Harlequin  Shipwrecked.^  It  does  not  seem  fantastic 
to  detect  a  reactionary  effect  of  the  afterpiece  on  the 
drama  itself,  for  The  Conscious  Lovers  is  billed  'with 
Entertainments'  which  include  'Singing  by  Mr. 
Lowe'  in  the  second  act,  and  at  the  'End  of  Act 
IV.  a  Grand  Dance  hy  Mr.  Muilment,  and  others.' 
Examination  of  many  eighteenth-century  playbills 
seems  to  support  the  suggestion  here  ventured  that 
the  popular  practice  of  including  a  pantomime  or  other 
afterpiece  may  have  increased  the  tendency  of  regu- 
lar drama  to  fortify  itself  with  music,  dancing,  and 
various  other  accessories  of  pantomime  and  spectacle. 
That  such  influences  exerted  real  pressure  may  be  seen 
in  Garrick's  retention  of  operatic  features  in  his  pro- 
duction of  The  Tempest,  and  in  the  addition  of  more 
than  a  score  of  songs  and  the  employment  of  some 
Italian  singers  in  the  version  of  Midsummer  Nighfs 
Dream  called  The  Fairies  (1755),  usually  ascribed  to 
Garrick  and  certainly  produced  under  his  direction. 
It  may  further  be  suggested  that  the  multipUcation 
of  such  short  dramatic  pieces  as  Fielding's  facihtated 
the  practice  of  including  an  afterpiece,  and  that  in 
turn  the  increased  possibiKties  of  stage  production 
encouraged  the  writing  of  short  theatrical  pieces  that 
would  serve  for  passing  amusement.    In  such  aspects, 

1 IV,  142. 


XV       LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA       249 

the  custom  of  the  afterpiece  concerns  more  than  the 
theatrical  antiquary.  It  may  be  said  to  exercise  a 
real,  though  not  definitely  determinable,  influence 
on  regular  drama. 

Most  conspicuous  among  writers  of  minor  drama 
during  the  Garrick  era  is  S^^j^jlEooie  (17 20-1 7 77). 
Though  appearing,  in  1744,  in  the  ill-chosen  r61e  of 
Othello,  Foote  soon  found  his  forte  in  comedy.  Like 
Garrick,  he  introduced  in  the  part  of  Bayes  mimicry 
and  caricature  of  his  fellow-actors.  In  April,  1747, 
evading  the  Licensing  Act  by  advertising  *a  Concert 
of  Mustek  with  which  will  be  given  gratis  a  new  Enter- 
tainment called  the  Diversions  of  the  Morning,^  ^  Foote 
estabUshed  himself  at  the  Little  Theatre  in  the  Hay- 
market.  The  vein  of  mimicry  already  successfully 
struck  was  now  developed  unsparingly  in  caricature 
of  the  Ungering  accents  of  Garrick's  dying  speeches, 
the  *  squeaking  pipe'  of  Mrs.  Woffington,  and  even 
the  physical  defect  in  Delane's  eyesight.  During 
the  season  Foote  varied  his  announcements  by  invit- 
ing his  friends  'to  come  and  drink  a  dish  of  Chocolate 
with  him'  at  noon  or  'a  dish  of  Tea'  at  half-past  six. 
For  two  subsequent  seasons  the  *  Auction  of  Pictures' 
was  his  framework  for  a  set  of  dramatic  sketches,  out- 
lined sometimes  with  general  satirical  strokes  and 
sometimes  with  individual  touches  of  caricature.  In 
The  Knights  (1749),  Foote  essayed  more  regular 
dramatic  form,  casting  his  'comedy'  in  two  acts  and, 
according  to  the  Preface,  drawing  the  '  three  principal 
characters'  from  life  'in  their  plain  natural  habit.' 
Yet  Foote  depended  largely  on  his  own  actor's  art 
1  Genest,  IV,  225. 


25©  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

and  somewhat  on  the  addition  of  a  'Cat's  Opera' 
burlesquing  Italian  opera. 

Foote  had  found  little  difficulty  in  evading  the 
Licensing  Act,  but  he  was  fortified  in  1766,  with  the 
patent  obtained  through  the  influence  of  the  Duke 
of  York  which  entitled  him  to  perform  during  the 
summer  season,  from  the  middle  of  May  to  the 
middle  of  September.  Though  this  patent  was  only 
for  a  summer  theatre  and  for  Foote's  lifetime,  it  was 
in  reaHty  a  grant  for  a  third  Patent  Theatre.  Pos- 
sessed of  powers  of  caricature  which  even  Doctor 
Johnson  thought  dangerous,^  and  backed  by  royal 
license,  Foote  kept  Garrick  constantly  uneasy  at  his 
animosity  and  jealous  of  his  success.  His  career  as 
playwright  curiously  coincides  within  a  few  months 
with  Garrick's  managership  at  Drury  Lane  (1747- 
1776). 

As  a  dramatist,  Foote  was  a  direct  descendant  of 
Fielding.  With  him,  Fielding's  partiality  for  short 
theatrical  pieces  becomes  quite  consistent  practice. 
Of  Foote's  printed  dramatic  works,  numbering  about 
a  score,  none  exceeds  in  length  three  acts.  The 
personaHties,  'local  hits,'  and  contemporary  sat- 
ire of  Fielding  were  developed  to  the  full  by  this 
clever  mimic  who  convulsed  those  whom  he  did  not 
hold  up  to  ridicule.  With  Foote,  as  with  Fielding, 
much  of  the  zest  of  personal  satire  is  now  lost.  Taylor, 
the  quack  oculist,  the  Welshman  Ap  Rice,  the  extor- 
tioner, Mrs.  Grieve,  the  Quaker  doctor  Fordyce,  and 
so  many  other  passing  figures  whom  Foote  delighted 
to  ridicule  are  now  unfamiHar.  Even  George  Faulk- 
1  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson^  Hill  edition,  1887,  H,  299. 


XV       LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA       2^1 

ner,  remembered  perhaps  as  Swift's  Dublin  publisher, 
is  too  shadowy  to  give  distinctness  to  the  mockery 
of  him  as  Peter  Paragraph  in  The  Orators  (1762). 
Doctor  Johnson  told  Boswell  ^  that  the  fear  of  broken 
bones  restrained  Foote  from  caricaturing  him,  but  for 
the  most  part  Foote  was  no  respecter  of  persons. 
When  A^Trip  to  Calais  was  so  plainly  directed  at  the 
Duchess  of  Kingston  in  the  character  of  Lady  Kitty 
Crocodile  that  she  interfered  to  secure  the  suppression 
of  the  piece,  Foote  altered  his  sketch  into  The  Capuchin 
(1776),  and  vented  his  satire  upon  her  chaplam  Jackson 
in  the  abusive  portrait  of  Doctor  Viper.  Sometimes,  as 
in  the  two  farces.  The  Englishman  in  Paris  (1753)  and 
The  Englishman  Returned  from  Paris  (1756),  where 
racial  peculiarities  are  touched,  Foote  essayed  the 
broader  strokes  of  general  satire,  but  such  efforts 
seem  less  successful  than  those  that  are  whetted  with 
the  zest  of  personal  caricature. 

The  modern  reader  will  perhaps  more  readily 
appreciate  Footers  methods  of  dramatic  satire  in  The 
Minor  (1760)  and  The  Madd^^oJ^JS^  (1771)-  The 
Minor,  though  not  free  from  grossness,  is  in  Footers 
best  vein  of  ready  wit,  lively  characterization,  and  tell- 
ing satire.  From  Little  Transfer,  the  broker,  Sheri- 
dan doubtless  took  the  hint  for  'Uttle  Premium'  in 
The  School  for  Scandal,  while  Charles  Surface  is  some- 
what reminiscent  of  the  improvident  young  Wealthy, 
whose  father,  in  the  disguise  of  a  German  baron, 
tests  his  son's  character  in  a  fashion  that  bears  some 
resemblance  to  Sir  Oliver's  methods  with  his  nephews. 
If  Sheridan  took  freely  such  suggestions,  he  had  the 


252  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

dramatic  genius  which  Foote  lacked  of  welding  inci- 
dents firmly  into  his  plot  and  giving  action  to  charac- 
ter. The  Minor  has  more  dramatic  substance  than 
is  usual  with  Foote,  yet  its  chief  point  is  satire  of 
Whitehead  and  his  Methodist  followers.  White- 
head himself,  caricatured  as  Doctor  Squintum, 
does  not  actually  appear  among  the  dramatis 
personcBy  but  his  precepts  are  given  mock  author- 
ity in  the  mouth  of  Mrs.  Cole,  whose  shameless 
profession  is  no  obstacle  to  her  conversion  to  the 
cult  of  Whitehead's  Tabernacle.  In  the  Intro- 
duction, Foote  in  person  explains  to  Smart  and 
Canker  that  *  ridicule  is  the  only  antidote  against 
this  pernicious  poison'  which  he  finds  in  Whitehead, 
but  his  resort  to  the  ^ comic  muse'  was  in  the  interest 
of  theatrical  success  and  not  of  rehgious  reform.  In 
Shift,  Tate  Wilkinson,  the  actor  who  had  once  dared 
to  mimic  Foote  on  his  own  stage,  was  ruthlessly  cari- 
catured. With  Foote  the  whirHgig  of  time  was  sure 
to  bring  in  his  revenges. 

The  Maid  oj^  Bath  (1771)  is  based  on  episodes  in  the 
C  earHeFHf e  of  EHzabeth  Linley,  the  bewitching  favour- 
ite of  the  concert  stage  whose  pubHc  career  ended  with 
her  romantic  marriage  to  Richard  Brinsley  Sheri- 
dan. 'The  lively  Uttle  Linnet'  is  Miss  Linley,  'that 
old  fusty,  shabby,  shuffling,  money-loving,  water- 
drinking,  mirth-marring,  amorous  old  hunks,  master 
Solomon  Flint'  caricatures  Miss  Linley 's  elderly 
admirer  Long,  and  Major  Rackett  is  the  notorious 
married  rake.  Major  Mathews,  who  later  slandered 
Sheridan  and  met  him  in  duel.  The  upshot  of  Foote's 
play  is  that  Miss  Linnet,  setting  aside  the  worldly 


XV        LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE   GARRICK  ERA        253 

advice  of  her  mother  and  the  propositions  of  her 
various  suitors,  commends  herself  to  the  patrons  who 
have  welcomed  her  'Httle  talents.'  Amid  the  per- 
sonalities of  the  piece  Foote  inserted  a  puff  direct  for 
himself.  When  Lady  Catherine  fails  to  secure  from 
Flint  '  a  pecuniary  acknowledgement  for  the  damage ' 
done  to  Miss  Linnet  by  his  attentions,  she  says: 
*  Gad's  wuU,  it  sha'  cum  to  the  proof :  You  mun  ken, 
gued  folk,  at  Edinbrugh,  laist  winter,  I  got  acquainted 
with  Maister  Foote,  the  play-actor:  I  wuU  get  him 
to  bring  the  filthy  loon  on  the  stage'  (HI,  i) .  Foote, 
indeed,  was  his  own  prompter  in  bringing  on  the 
stage  the  local  gossip  and  town  tattle  of  the  hour. 

Foote's  other  dramatic  pieces  follow  the  general 
lines  already  suggested.  His  satire  hit  readily  at  <^ 
whatever  subject  was  ready  to  hand  —  at  the  credu- 
lity of  collectors  of  antiques  and  of  pictures  in  Taste, 
at  the  pretences  of  authors  and  their  patrons  in  The 
^uthor  and  The  Patron,  at  the  unmartial  spirit  of  the 
militia  in  The  Mayor  of  Garratt,  at  the  quackery  of 
doctors  in  The  Devil  upon  Two  Sticks,  and  at  knavery 
in  The  Cozeners.  Yet  such  themes  served  mainly 
as  general  framework  for  living  pictures  of  Taylor, 
the  'Itinerant  Oculist,'  of  Ap  Rice,  of  Thomas  Sheri- 
dan, and  of  other  definite  personalities  of  the  day. 
Without  the  conscious  zeal  of  the  reformer  or  the 
sympathy  that  deeply  interprets  character.  Footed., 
turned  his  satire  chiefly  to  the  oddities  and  eccentrici- 
ties of  society.  For  the  most  part,  his  characters 
have  animation  and  theatrical  effectiveness,  but  they 
are  exposed  rather  than  developed  in  action.  Action, 
indeed,  with  Foote  is  more  apt  to  be  the  bustle  of 


254  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP,    | 

the  stage  than  the  coherent  development  of  dra- 
matic plot.  Again  and  again,  dialogue  is  allowed  to 
wander  from  the  forward  path  into  the  meanders 
of  personal  gossip,  somewhat  in  the  fashion  of  Air- 
castle  in  The  Cozeners ,  a  deHghtful  ^humour'  char- 
acter who  keeps  up  a  running  but  aimless  fire  of  speech. 
Though  Eoote's  pieces  are  usually  printed  as  ^come- 

.^dies,^  they  belong  mainly  to  the  realm  of  farce.  Like 
his  own  actor's  art,  they  are  fond  of  substituting  mim- 
icry for  original  interpretation  of  character.  There 
are  occasional  flashes  of  comic  genius,  but  more 
frequently  an  artificial  cleverness.  Among  the  dram- 
atists of  his  day  Foote  holds  a  distinct,  if  not  imique, 
position,  but  it  is  as  a  cartoonist  rather  than  as  a 
dramatic  artist. 

£  The  zest  of  Footers  farces,  without  their  personal 
sting,  is  seen  in  various  contemporary  afterpieces. 
Garrick's  practical  knowledge  of  the  stage  helped  him 
to  produce  successfully  a  number  of  lively  farces,  such 
as  The  Lying  Valet  (1741),  Miss  in  her  Teens  (1747), 
The  Irish  Widow  (1772),  and  Bon  Ton  (1775).  Per- 
haps better  than  any  of  these  is  High  J^ife,.  Below 
Stairs  (1759),  frequently  ascribed  to  Garrick,  but" 
really  the  work  of  his  friend.  Rev.  James  Townley 
(17 14-17 78).  A  long  career  as  schoolmaster  led 
finally  to  Townley's  appointment  as  head-master  at 
the  Merchant  Taylors'  School,  where  he  enlivened  the 
curriculum  with  some  dramatics.  His  later  farces. 
False  Concord  (1764)  and  The  Tutor  (1765),  were  less 
successful.  Though  High  Life  Below  Stairs  is  perhaps 
not  so  wholly  novel  in  theme  as  is  sometimes  asserted, 
it  proved  a  welcome  variety  to  those  who,  like  George 


XV       LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA       255 

Selwyn,  were  tired  of  ^low  life  above  stairs.'  For  the 
most  part,  servants  had  been  relegated  to  the  back- 
ground, but  Townley  opened  the  door  of  servants' < 
hall,  as  Thackeray  did  in  the  Diary  of  C.  Jeames  de  la 
Pluche.  The  brisk  farce  has  considerable  action,  and 
leads  to  a  good  dramatic  situation  where  the  returned 
master,  Lovel,  is  about  to  shoot  through  the  door  at 
the  supposed  cat  which  has  been  declared  responsible 
for  the  noise  made  by  the  refugees  now  in  hiding. 
Faithful  Tom,  the  honest  servant,  is  vindicated  in 
rather  conventional  fashion,  but  the  spirit  and  fim  of 
the  piece  gave  it  long  vitaUty  on  the  English  stage, 
led  to  its  translation  into  French  and  German,  and 
secure  for  it  even  to-day  occasional  hearing. 

Among  playwrights  of  the  period  a  place  must  be 
accorded  to  the  prolific  Arthur  Murphy  (1727- 
1805).  The  diversity  apparent  in  his  various  pursuits 
as  bank  clerk,  periodical  writer,  barrister,  actor,  and 
playwright,  is  characteristic  also  of  his  wide  range  of 
dramatic  effort.  The  Spouter,  or  The  Triple  Revenge^ 
pubhshed  in  1756,  attributed  to  Murphy,  follows  the 
vein  of  Fielding's  and  Foote's  personal  satires.  Hill, 
Theophilus  Gibber,  and  Foote  are  the  objects  of  the 
triple  revenge,  while  Garrick  and  Rich  come  in  for 
some  satirical  strokes.  The^  Upholsterer  (1757),  a 
farce  that  seems  indebted  to  Fielding's  Coffee-House 
Politician,  is  a  general  satire  of  political  quidnuncs. 
From  personal  and  farcical  satire  Murphy  rose  to 
comedy  in  The  Way  to  Keep  Him  (1760),  expanded 
theT'oUowing  year  from  three  to  five  acts,  and  All  in 
the  Wrppg  (1761),  drawn  from  Moliere,  plays ^which 
held  a  place  on  the  stage  until  well  into  the  next 


256  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

century.  Less  successful  were  his  three  adaptations 
from  Voltaire  previously  discussed.  The  School  for 
Guardians,  compounded  largely  from  Molieire7Tr  an- 
other instance  of  Murphy's  indebtedness  to  French 
drama.  Of  his  tragedies,  Zenohia  (1768)  and  Th^Gre- 
cian  Daughter  (iff 2)  sufficiently  illustrate  his  adherence 
to  the  remote  unrealities  of  classical  drama.  The 
initial  success  of  The  Grecian  Daughter  was  largely 
due  to  the  Barrys,  but  its  theatrical  fame  rests  more 
securely  upon  the  tradition  of  Mrs.  Siddons  in  the  role 
of  Euphrasia. 

In  many  ways,  Arthur  Murphy  may  be  taken  as  a 
fair  representative  of  the  ordinary  drama  of  his  period. 
He  was  content  to  cast  his  plays  in  the  conventional ' 
mould,  and  to  draw  his  materials  from  sources  as  ob- 
vious,  and  yet  as  varied,  as  Fielding's  farces,  Moliere's 
comedies,  and  Voltaire's  tragedies.  In  comedy  he 
sounded  the  familiar  didactic  note,  schooling  wives 
in  '  the  way  to  keep '  their  husbands,  and  husbands  in 
the  lesson  that  constancy  should  not  be  shamefaced. 
In  tragedy  he  struck  the  conventional  chords.  Yet, 
with  sufficient  theatrical  sense  to  follow  industriously 
the  fashions  which  he  had  not  the  originality  to  lead, 
he  won  a  considerable  measure  of  popular  favour.  His 
dramas  lack  distinction  and  individuality,  but  are 
not  without  ingenuity  in  adaptation  of  materials  to 
his  purposes.  His  dramatic  aim  may  have  been 
higher  than  that  of  Fielding  or  Foote,  but  none  of 
his  comedies  leaves  so  distinct  an  impression  as  Town- 
ley's  less  pretentious  farce,  and  none  of  his  tragedies 
seems  so  memorable  as  Fielding's  burlesque  tragedy, 
Tom  Thumb. 


XV        LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA        257 

Another  popular  Irish  playwright  of  the  Garrick 
period  was  Isaac  Bickerstaff  ^  (1735  circ.-i8i2?). 
He  had  a  facile  hand  for  opera  hbretti,  giving  to 
Thomas  and  Sally  (1760)  the  typical  eighteenth-cen- 
tury plot  of  a  villainous  squire  foiled  by  the  hero  in 
his  attempt  to  seduce  the  innocent  maiden,  and  taking 
hints  from  an  earlier  opera  and  from  Wycherley's 
Ge?zfemiWi-J3awawg-ilf (Zj/er  for  his  Love  in  a  Village 
(1762).  The  Maid  of  the  Mill  (1765),  drawn  largely 
from  Pamela,  and  Lionel  .and  Clarissa  (1768)  were 
conspicuous  operatic  successes  for  which  Bickerstaff 
supplied  the  words.  In  1768,  he  produced  at  Drury 
Lane,  in  successive  months,  two  very  popular  pieces  — 
Tke^JPadlockj  a  musical  entertainment  which  had 
more  than  fifty  performances,  and  The_  Hypocrite,  an 
excellent  revision  of  Gibber's  Non-Juror,  with  the 
addition  of  the  effective  stage  character,  Maw-worm. 
With  little  creative  dramatic  power,  Bickerstaff  had 
considerable  facility  in  adaptation  and  practical 
knowledge  of  theatrical  effects. 

The  mediocrity  of  playwrights  like  Murphy  and  Bick- 
erstaff enhances  by  contrast  the  far  more  noteworthy 
comic  achievement  of  George  Colman,  the  Elder 
(173  2-1 794).  In  his  best  work  are  traces  of  the^.^ 
earlier  and  more  genuine  comic  spirit  which  had  been 
largely  lost  as  drama  had  become  sentimentalized. 
His  father,  envoy  at  the  court  of  Tuscany,  died  the 
year  after  his  son's  birth  at  Florence.     Educated  by 

^The  name  is  frequently  spelled  '  Bickerstaff e.'     His  plays  were 
habitually  published  anonymously,  but  The  Romp  (1786),  gives  his 
name  as  'Bickerstaff,'  and  this  is  the  spelling  in  the  Garrick  Corre- 
spondence, 
s 


258  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

his  iincle  who  urged  him,  after  his  course  at  Oxford, 
to  follow  the  law,  and  prodded  by  his  aunt  toward  the 
ministry,  his  own  taste  turned  toward  Hterature. 
By  1760  he  had  won  reputation  as  a  man  of  literary 
taste  and  discernment,  and  had  made  friends  with 
Garrick.  Conscious  of  his  uncle's  dislike  for  his  dra- 
matic tendencies,  Colman  produced  his  first  dramatic 
venture,  Polly  Honey  combe  (1760),  anonymously. 
Slight  as  rrtKis  popular  afterpiece,  it  merits  unusual 
attention  as  a  reaction  against  the  sentimental  school 
and  as  a  forerunner  of  Sheridan's  Rivals.  The  satire 
difected  in  the  Prologue  against  the  sentimental  novel 
foreshadows  the  opening  scene  where  Polly  bids  her 
Nurse  *  call  at  the  Circulating  Library '  for  the  novels 
of  the  day — ^a  scene  which  inevitably  recalls  Lydia 
Languish's  introductory  conversation  with  Lucy 
about  the  novels  of  the  circulating  Hbrary.  The 
exclamation  of  Polly's  father,  'A  man  might  as  well 
turn  his  daughter  loose  in  Covent-Garden,  as  trust 
the  cultivation  of  her  mind  to  a  circulating  library,' 
suggests  Sir  Anthony  Absolute's  more  finished  dictum, 
^A  circulating  library  in  a  town  is  as  an  evergreen  tree 
of  diabolical  knowledge.'  Like  Lydia  Languish, 
Polly  thinks  of  '  ladders  of  ropes '  and  other  accessories 
of  sentimental  elopements.  In  Polly  Honeycombed 
Colman  anticipates  the  laugh  which  Sheridan  was  to 
turn  against  sentimentality. 

The  Jealous  Wife  (1761),  deservedly  the  most  popu- 
lar comedy  of  its  day,  is  essentially  a  dramatization  of 
Tom  Jones.  Tom  Jones  becomes  Charles  Oakly; 
Sophia,  Harriot;  Lady  Bellaston,  Lady  Freelove; 
Lord  Fellmar,  Lord  Trinket ;  Squire  Western,  Russet ; 


XV        LIGHTER  DPAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA 


259 


Blifil,  Beagle,  with  an  effective  transfer  to  him  of 
Squire  Western's  sporting  instincts.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Oakly  are  not  in  Tom  Jones.  Numerous  situations 
in  the  novel  and  the  play  are  identical,  and  from  the 
novel  are  taken  the  use  of  the  press-gang,  the  chal- 
lenge for  the  duel,  and  Charles's  intoxication.  Fur- 
ther questions  as  to  the  sources  of  the  play  are  com- 
fortably settled  by  Colman's  statement  in  the  'Ad- 
vertisement' that  he  took  'some  hints'  from  the 
Spectator,  a  suggestion  from  the  Adelphi  of  Terence, 
and  advice  from  Garrick.  Colman,  however,  deserves, 
full  credit  for  his  skill  in  welding  his  materials  into 
effective  drama. 

The  Jeajpus  Wife  is  strongly  reminiscent  of  Restora- 
tion comedy,  without  the  unhealthiness  of  its  moral 
atmosphere.  Lord  Trinket's  French  phrases  have 
the  familiar  GalHc  affectation,  and  Lady  Freelove  suits 
her  action  to  her  name  in  the  fashion  of  the  Restora- 
tion. She  exhibits  the  habitual  contempt  for  the 
country  and  the  preference  for  good  manners  over  good 
morals.  Sir  Harry  Beagle's  rough  love-making  to 
Harriot  (IV,  2)  recalls  sailor  Ben's  love-making  in 
Congreve's  Love  for  Love  (IH,  3),  with  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  lingo  of  the  stable  for  that  of  the  sea.^  The 
plot  is  dramatically  effective,  the  situations  ingenious. 
The  scene  where  Mrs.  Oakly  overhears  her  husband 
and  Harriot,  and  then,  with  Russet's  vigorous  aid, 
accuses  the  innocent  Oakly  (end  of  Act  III)  is  an  excel- 

1  Though  the  spirit  is  closer  than  the  phraseology,  Sir  Harry's 
*Look'ye,  Miss,  I  am  a  Man  of  few  Words'  is  comparable  with  Ben's 
*How  say  you,  mistress?  The  short  of  the  thing  is,  that  if  you  like 
me,  and  I  like  you,  we  may  chance  to  swing  in  a  hammock  together.* 


26o  ENGLISH  DRAMA     •  chap. 

lent  illustration  of  stage  effectiveness.  The  action 
does  not  flag,  and  its  two  plots  are  skilfully  united  by 
Harriot's  flight  to  Oakly's  house  which  arouses  the 
suspicions  of  the  jealous  wife.  The  final  solution  re- 
mains in  doubt  for  a  time,  as  it  seems  uncertain 
whether  Oakly  will  assert  himself  enough  to  dominate 
his  wife.  Eventually,  however,  with  somewhat  of 
Petruchio's  manner,  he  tames  his  wife's  spirit. 

Charles  Oakly  is  the  hero,  the  familiar  type  of  easy 
morals  and  successes  in  love.  Tom  Jones  is  his  con- 
fessed original,  and  Charles  Surface  his  best  known 
descendant.  Harriot  is  Fielding's  Sophia,  with  some- 
what of  Richardson's  Pamela.  Lord  Trinket  slightly 
recalls  Richardson's  Lovelace.  Captain  O'Cutter,  an 
ancestor  of  Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger,  is  distinct,  but  his 
dialect  is  a  doubtful  experiment.  Without  the  strength 
of  character  drawing  of  Wycherley  or  Vanbrugh,  and 
without  Congreve's  finish  and  epigrammatic  wit. 
The  Jealous  Wife  is  a  distinct  comedy  success. 

During  the  next  two  years,  Colman  produced  two 
successful  afterpieces.  The  Musical  Lady^  and  The 
JOeucejs  in  Him,  and  an  alteration  of  Philaster  (1763) 
in  which  Powell,  the  tragedian,  made  no  less  than 
sixteen  appearances  during  the  season.  Such  theatri- 
cal successes,  it  must  be  remembered,  do  not  neces- 
sarily imply  much  dramatic  power,  for  in  the  season 
of  1 762-1 763  Garrick's  most  frequent  appearances  in 
tragedy  were  as  Don  Alonzo,  in  Mallet's  Elvira,  and 
in  comedy  as  Sir  Anthony  Branville  in  Mrs.  Sheridan's 
Discovery,  a  play  whose  chief  significance  to  the 
modern  reader  is  probably  that  it  was  written  by  the 
mother  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.    Viflth  the^col- 


5cv        LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA        261 

laboration  of  Garrick,  however,  Colman,  rose  again 
to  genuine  comedy  in  The  Clandestine  Marriage 
(1766). 

The  germ  of  The  Clandestine  Marriage  was  one  of 
Hogarth's  plates  in  his  Marriage-d-la-Mode.,  The 
characters  of  Lord  Ogleby,  Sterling,  and  Brush,  to- 
gether with  a  considerable  amount  of  dialogue,  are 
said  to  have  been  taken  from  Townley's  farce,  False 
Concord,  but  in  any  event  their  success  came  only 
with  transfer  into  a  vital  drama.  Lord  Ogleby,  at 
least,  becomes  a  notable  stage  character,  a  survivor  of 
the  famous  Restoration  family  which  included  Sir 
Fopling  Flutter,  Sir  Novelty  Fashion,  Sir  Courtly 
Nice,  and  Lord  Foppington.  In  the  '  character  part ' 
of  Mrs.  Heidelberg  some  have  been  insistent  in  dis- 
covering the  original  of  Mrs.  Malaprop,  but  there  is 
a  decided  difference  between  her  mispronunciation  and 
Mrs.  Malaprop's  'select  words  so  ingeniously  mis- 
applied, without  being  mispronounced.^  The  very 
palpable  hits  in  the  dialogue  at  the  artificiality  of 
eighteenth-century  landscape  gardening  ^  suggest  that 
the  play  itself  breaks  over  the  dull  formalities  of  the 
mechanical  comedy  of  the  period.  At  times  the 
poverty  of  comic  spirit  before  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan 
has  been  exaggerated  into  too  positive  insistence  upon 

1  Sterling  declares  (II,  i) :  'You  must  see  my  water  by  daylight, 
and  my  walks,  and  my  slopes,  and  my  clumps,  and  my  bridge,  and  my 
flow'ring  trees,  and  my  bed  of  Dutch  tulips.'  Lord  Ogleby  (II,  2) 
finds  that  in  Sterling's  garden  'the  four  seasons  in  lead,  the  flying 
Mercury,  and  the  basin  with  Neptune  in  the  middle,  are  all  in  the  very 
extreme  of  fine  taste.  ...  A  most  excellent  serpentine.  .  .  forms 
a  perfect  maze,  and  winds  like  a  true  lover's  knot  .  .  .  One  can 
hardly  see  an  inch  beyond  one's  nose  any  where  in  these  walks.' 


262  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

its  extinction.  With  The  Jealous  Wife  and  The  Clan- 
destine Marriage,  it  is  unnecessary  to  invoke  the  aid 
of  farces  like  Foote's,  to  prove  that  the  comic  spirit 
was  not  dead.  Without  beUtthng  the  importance 
of  Goldsmith's  service  to  English  comedy,  it  is  idle 
to  maintain  that  he  was  the  first  to  turn  comedy  back 
from  tears  to  laughter. 

The  Clandestine  Marriage  led  to  a  quarrel  between 
its  authors  over  Garrick's  refusal  of  the  role  of  Lord 
Ogleby.  The  breach  was  widened  when  Colman,  with 
Powell,  Harris,  and  Rutherford,  purchased  the  Covent 
Garden  Theatre.  Managerial  disputes  between  Col- 
man and  Powell  on  the  one  hand,  and  Harris  and 
Rutherford  on  the  other,  led  to  Colman's  retirement 
in  1774.  During  the  seven  years  of  his  management 
at  Covent  Garden  had  been  produced  Goldsmith's 
Good  Natur^d  Man,  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,^  a 
revival  of  Cymbeline,  sl  version  of  King  Lear,  with 
Colman's  alterations,  and  some  minor  work  of  his  own. 
After  his  retirement  and  reconcihation  with  Garrick, 
the  latter  produced  for  him  a  two-act  comedy  and  a 
version  of  Ben  Jonson's  Silent  Woman.  After  the 
transfer  by  Foote  to  Colman  of  the  Haymarket 
Theatre,  Colman  produced  some  of  his  own  minor 
pieces.  A  member  of  the  Literary  Club,  a  successful 
dramatist  and  manager,  a  translator  of  the  comedies 
of  Terence,  an  editor  of  the  dramatic  works  of  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher,  a  writer  of  prologues  and  epilogues, 
among  them  the  Epilogue  to  The  School  for  Scandal, 
George  Colman  the  elder  was  a  notable  figure  in  the 

1  The  obstacles  put  by  him  in  Goldsmith's  path  entitle  Colman  to 
little  credit  for  the  production  of  these  plays. 


XV        LIGHTER  DRAMA  OF  THE  GARRICK  ERA        263 

theatrical  and  literary  world  of  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century.     The  latter  part  of  his  career 
exceeds  the  limits  of  the  Garrick  era,  but  The  Jealous  u 
Wife  and  The  Clandestine  Marriage  preserve  the  comic 
spirit  until  the  advent  of  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   RISE  AND   HEIGHT   OF   SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA 

^'  Sentimental  drama,  foreshadowed  in  the  pathetic 
appeal  of  Otway  and  Southerne  in  tragedy,  and  carried 
into  comedy  by  Gibber  and  Steele,  rose  to  its  height 
in  the  Garrick  era.  The  vein  of  sentiment  exploited 
by  Steele  had  run  thin  with  his  successors,  passing 
at  length  into  the  crude  ore  of  sentimentaKty.  On 
the  Continent,  comedy,  which  had  admitted  a  serious 
undertone  in  Destouches  and  a  pathetic  strain  in 
Marivaux,  saw  sentiment  turn  into  tears  in  Nivelle  de 
la  Ghaussee.  The  drame  serieux,  or  comedie  bour- 
geoise  and  the  comedie  mixte  led  to  the  comedie  lar- 

1  moyante.     The  birth  of  the  sentimental  novel  fostered 

ji  the  tendency  of  comedy  to  substitute  tears  for  laughter. 

'  Richardson  directly  inspired  La  Ghaussee's  Pamela 
(1743)  and  even  Voltaire's  Nanine  (1749).^  To  these 
more  serious  tendencies  of  French  drama  the  plays 
of  Diderot,  strongly  influenced  by  Lillo's  bourgeois 
tragedy,  contributed  during  the  third  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  very  term  drame  suggests 
the  obhteration  of  the  rigid  line  between  comedy  and 
tragedy.  In  England,  the  kinship  between  sentimen- 
tal comedy  and  tragedy  is  discernible  even  as  early 

^  Voltaire's  Preface,  however,  declares  that,  though  'melting  pity' 
is  admissible,  comedy  without  the  comic  element  'would  be  a  very 
faulty  and  very  disagreeable  species.* 

264 


CHAP.  XVI   THE   RISE  OF   SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA  265 

as  Steele  in  the  pathetic  note  which  links  his  senti- 
mental comedies  backwards  to  the  tragedies  of  Otway 
and  Southerne.  Both  in  France  and  in  England, 
Thalia  was  not  ashamed  to  hide  her  head  on  the 
shoulder  of  Melpomene. 

Sentimental  drama  did  not  develop  without  some 
protest.  Gay/ Fielding,  and  Carey  burlesqued  on 
the  stage  some  of  its  artificialities.  Even  after  he 
had  abandoned  drama  for  the  novel,  Fielding  struck 
a  passing  blow  at  sentimental  comedy  in  his  descrip- 
tion in  Tom  Jones'^  of  the  puppet-show  of  The  Provoked 
Husband  as  a  '  very  grave  and  solemn  entertainment, 
without  any  low  wit,  or  humour,  or  jests,'  in  which 
there  was  not  'anything  which  could  provoke  a  laugh.' 
The  word  'low'  became  the  usual  brand  with  which 
advocates  of  the  sentimental  drama  stigmatized 
comedies  that  stooped  to  conquer  with  so  mean  a 
weapon  as  the  laugh  of  ridicule.  'By  the  power  of 
one  single  monosyllable,'  wrote  Goldsmith^  with  al- 
most a  presentiment  of  the  criticism  which  within 
a  decade  was  to  demand  the  excision  of  the  bailiffs' 
scene  from  his  own  comedy,  'our  critics  have  almost 
got  the  victory  over  humour  amongst  us.  Does  the 
poet  paint  the  absurdities  of  the  vulgar;  then  he  is 
low;  does  he  exaggerate  the  features  of  folly,  to  render 
it  more  thoroughly  ridiculous,  he  is  then  very  low. 
In  short,  they  have  proscribed  the  comic  or  satyrical 
muse  from  every  walk  but  high  life,  which,  though 

1  Book  XII,  Chapter  V. 

2  The  Present  State  of  Polite  Learning,  1759  edition,  p.  154,  quoted 
by  Austin  Dobson,  Belles-Lettres  edition  of  Goldsmith's  plays,  In- 
troduction, pp.  xiii-xiv. 


266  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

abounding  in  fools  as  well  as  the  humblest  station, 
is  by  no  means  so  fruitful  in  absurdity.'  Sentimental 
comedy  was  dignified  by  its  admirers  with  the  aristo- 
cratic term  'genteel.'  Against  its  tyranny  of  tears 
murmurings  were  distinctly  audible,  but  it  main- 
tained its  dominance  until  it  had  to  yield  to  the 
comedy  of  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan. 

What  was  sentimental  comedy  in  the  Garrick  era  ? 
This  question  may  perhaps  best  be  answered  by  de- 
fining its  general  character  and  by  examining  some  of 
its  most  conspicuous  products.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  find  a  clearer  exposition  of  its  general  character 
thkn  that  put  forth  by  Goldsmith  in  his  noteworthy 
Essay  on  the  Theatre;  or,  A  Comparison  between  Laugh- 
ing and  Sentimental  Comedy  (1772).^  After  enforcing 
Aristotle's  definition  of  comedy  as  'a  picture  of  the 
frailties  of  the  lower  part  of  mankind,  to  distinguish 
it  from  tragedy,  which  is  an  exhibition  of  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  great,'  Goldsmith  proceeds:  'Yet 
notwithstanding  this  weight  of  authority,  and  the 
universal  practice  of  former  ages,  a  new  species  of 
dramatic  composition  has  been  introduced,  imder  the 
name  of  sentimental  comedy,  in  which  the  virtues  of 
private  life~are  exhibited,  rather  than  the  vices  ex- 
posed; and  the  distresses  rather  than  the  faults  of 
mankind  make  our  interest  in  the  piece.  These  com- 
edies have  had  of  late  great  success,  perhaps  from  their 
novelty,  and  also  from  their  flattering  every  man  in  his 
favourite  foible.     In  these  plays  almost  all  the  char;^ 

^Tnhlished  in  the  Westminster  Magazine,  December,  1772.  A  con- 
venient reprint  may  be  found  in  Austin  Dobson's  edition  of  The  Good 
Natur'd  Man  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  in  the  Belles-Lettres  Series. 


XVI  THE  RISE   OF   SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA  267 

acters  are  good,  and  exceedingly  generous ;  they  are  lav- 
ish enough  of  their  tin  money  on  the  stage ;  and  though 
they  want  humour,  have  abundance  of  sentiment  and 
feeling.  If  they  happen  to  have  faults  or  foibles,  the 
spectator  is  taught,  not  only  to  pardon,  but  to  ap- 
plaud them,  in  consideration  of  the  goodness  of  their 
hearts;  so  that  folly,  instead  of  being  ridiculed,  is 
commended,  and  the  comedy  aims  at  touching  our 
passions  without  the  power  of  being  truly  pathetic. 
In  this  manner  we  are  Hkely  to  lose  one  great  source 
of  entertainment  on  the  stage;  for  while  the  comic 
poet  is  invading  the  province  of  the  tragic  muse,  he 
leaves  her  lovely  sister  quite  neglected.  Of  this,  how- 
ever, he  is  no  way  solicitous,  as  he  measures  his  fame 
by  his  profits.'  Towards  the  end  of  this  short  essay 
Goldsmith  turns  from  direct  argument  to  satire: 
*But  there  is  one  argument  in  favour  of  sentimental 
comedy,  which  will  keep  it  on  the  stage,  in  spite  of  all 
that  can  be  said  against  it.  It  is,  of  all  others,  the 
most  easily  written.  Those  abilities  that  can  hammer 
out  a  novel  are  fully  sufficient  for  the  production  of  a 
sentimental  comedy.  It  is  only  sufficient  to  raise  the 
characters  a  little ;  to  deck  out  the  hero  with  a  riband, 
or  give  the  heroine  a  title;  then  to  put  an  insipid 
dialogue,  without  character  or  humour,  into  their 
mouths,  give  them  mighty  good  hearts,  very  fine 
clothes,  furnish  a  new  set  of  scenes,  make  a  pathetic 
scene  or  two,  with  a  sprinkling  of  tender  melancholy 
conversation  through  the  whole,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
but  all  the  ladies  will  cry,  and  all  the  gentlemen  ap- 
plaud.' The  testimony  of  Goldsmith  cannot  be  dis- 
missed simply  as  that  of  a  hostile  partisan,  for  exami- 


268  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

nation  of  the  sentimental  comedy  which  he  attacked 
will  support  the  essential  sanity  of  his  verdict, 
p  Sentimental  comedy  rose  to  its  height  in  the  work 
of  Hugh  Kelly  and  Richard  Cumberland.  *-' Hugh 
^LLY  (1739-17 7 7), /son  of  a  tavern-keeper  in  Dublin, 
turned  from  early  apprenticeship  as  a  staymaker  to 
the  life  of  a  literary  hack  in  London.  Essays,  a  suc- 
cessful novel,  theatrical  criticisms,  and  a  work  in  the 
popular  style  of  Churchill's  Rosciad  paved  the  way 
to  dramatic  efforts^    False  Delica^^  was  pro- 

duced at  Drury  Lane  six  days  before  Goldsmith's 
Good  Natur^d  Man  finally  achieved  its  belated  pro- 
duction at  Co  vent  Garden.  It  was  the  clash  of  senti- 
mental comedy  with  an  upstart  rival,  and  for  the 
moment  victory  rested  with  the  established  favourite. 
Garrick,  who  had  not  forgotten  Goldsmith's  out- 
spoken strictures  in  The  Present  State  of  Polite  Learn- 
ing on  the  managerial  policy  of  the  theatre,  lent  his 
influence  to  Kelly,  fortifying  his  piece  with  prologue 
and  epilogue,  possibly  touching  some  parts  of  the  play 
with  his  practised  hand,  and  forestalling  Goldsmith  by 
securing  for  Kelly  the  advantage  of  first  hearing.  In 
contrast  with  the  moderate  favour  accorded  at  the  out- 
set to  Goldsmith's  piece,  Kelly's  ^genteel'  comedy  won 
a  theatrical  triumph.  On  the  morning  after  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  first  edition,  appropriately  dedicated 
to  Garrick,  the  publisher  announced  that  three  thou- 
sand copies  had  been  sold  before  two  o'clock.  By  the 
end  of  the  season  the  sales  reached  ten  thousand 
copies.  The  play  was  translated  into  German, 
French,  and  Portuguese,  and  acted  at  Lisbon  and 
Paris   to   crowded   houses.     Kelly   had   struck   the 


XVI  THE  RISE   OF   SENTIMENTAL   DRAMA  269 

popular  chords  of  sentiment  and  the  response  was  im- 
mediate. 

False  Delicacy  is  a  comedy  of  cross-purposes.  Three  < 
sets  of  mismated  lovers  are  entangled  in  a  web  of 
misunderstanding  so  transparent  that  it  would  break 
at  a  ruder  touch  than  that  of  a  sentimentalist.  False 
delicacy  forbids  the  various  lovers  to  speak  the  truth, 
and  the  course  of  sentimental  love  never  would  run 
smooth  without  the  intervention  of  the  bluff  Cecil 
and  the  practical  matchmaker  Mrs.  Harley.  Upon 
the  artificial  framework  of  a  plot  whose  improbabilities 
would  suggest  farce  if  they  were  not  treated  seriously 
is  imposed  the  didactic  morahzing  dear  to  sentimental 
comedy.  A  few  speeches,  taken  almost  at  random 
from  different  characters  and  in  different  situations, 
will  show  the  prevalent  tone.  Says  Lady  Betty  (II, 
2)^ :  *The  woman  that  wants  candour  where  she  is  ad- 
dress'd  by  a  man  of  merit,  wants  a  very  essential 
virtue ;  and  she  who  can  delight  in  the  anxiety  of  a 
worthy  mind,  is  little  to  be  pitied  when  she  feels  the 
sharpest  stings  of  anxiety  in  her  own.'  Says  Miss 
Rivers  (IV,  2) :  ^  An  elopement  even  from  a  tyrannical 
father,  has  something  in  it  which  must  shock  a  deli- 
cate mind.  — But  when  a  woman  flies  from  the  protec- 
tion of  a  parent,  who  merits  the  utmost  return  of  her 
affection,  she  must  be  insensible  indeed,  if  she  does 
not  feel  the  sincerest  regret.'  Says  Sidney  (V,  i) : 
^  There  is  something  shocking  in  a  union  with  a  woman 
whose  affections  we  know  to  be  ahenated;  and  'tis 
difl&cult  to  say  which  is  most  entitled  to  contempt, 

^Scene-divisions  are  not  always  clearly  indicated  either  in  the 
1768  octavo  of  Fcilse  Delicacy  or  in  the  1778  edition  of  Kelly's  Works. 


270  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

he  that  stoops  to  accept  of  a  pre-engaged  mind,  or 
he  that  puts  up  with  a  prostituted  person.'  Says 
Win  worth  (V,  2) :  *  He  is  the  best  manager  of  a  for- 
tune who  is  most  attentive  to  the  wants  of  the  de- 
serving.' The  last  speech  of  Rivers  may  be  taken 
as  the  golden  text  of  the  play:  'But  the  principal 
moral  to  be  drawn  from  the  transactions  of  to-day  is, 
that  those  who  generously  labour  for  the  happiness  of 
others,  will,  sooner  or  later,  arrive  at  happiness  them- 
selves.' In  one  of  Win  worth's  speeches  (V,  2)  may  be 
found  the  expression  of  Kelly's  own  attitude  to  the 
stage :  'The  stage  shou'd  be  a  school  of  morality ;  and 
the  noblest  of  all  lessons  is  the  forgiveness  of  injuries.' 
*The  stage  should  be  a  school  of  morality'  —  that, 
indeed,  was  the  creed  of  sentimental  drama.  It  was 
the  very  phrase  that  Sheridan,  in  The  Critic^  turned 
ironically  against  sentimental  drama  when  he  made 
Sneer  exclaim :  '  The  theatre,  in  proper  hands,  might 
certainly  be  made  the  school  of  morality ;  but  now,  I 
am  sorry  to  say  it,  people  seem  to  go  there  principally 
for  their  entertainment ! '  - 
1.  Although  False  Delicacy  is  essentially  a  sentimental 
comedy,  justice  must  recognize  Kelly's  partial  allevia- 
tion of  the  distresses  of  sentimentality.  Mrs.  Harley 
and  Cecil  give  comic  relief  to  the  dead  level  of  sen- 
timent which  forms  the  usual  staple  of  dialogue. 
'Thank  heav'n,'  cries  Mrs.  Harley,  'my  sentiments 
are  not  sufficiently  refin'd  to  make  me  unhappy'  (II,  i) . 
If  she  had  a  chance  to  secure  an  eligible  successor  to 
her  two  previous  husbands,  she  'would  make  sure 
work  of  it  at  once,  and  leave  it  to  your  elevated  minds 
to  deal  in  delicate  absurdities  '  (IV,  i).    When  Miss 


XVI  THE  RISE   OF   SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA  27 1 

Marchmont  declares  she  is  willing  at  last  to  accept 
Lord  Winworth,  wrongly  thinking  that  this  will  please 
Lady  Betty,  her  protectress,  Mrs.  Harley  ejaculates : 
'Now  will  I  be  hang'd  if  she  does  not  undo  every 
thing  by  a  fresh  stroke  of  deHcacy,'  and  again,  'O  the 
devil  take  this  elevation  of  sentiment! '  and  still  again, 
'Did  ever  two  fools  plague  one  another  so  heartily 
with  their  delicacy  and  sentiment  ? '  Cecil,  Hke  Mrs. 
Harley,  is  frankly  contemptuous  of  delicacy  and  senti- 
ment. 'What  a  ridiculous  bustle  is  there  here,'  he 
breaks  out  in  the  last  act,  '  about  delicacy  and  stuff  — 
your  people  of  refin'd  sentiments  are  the  most  trouble- 
some creatures  in  the  world  to  deal  with,  and  their 
friends  must  even  commit  a  violence  upon  their 
nicety  before  they  can  condescend  to  study  their  own 
happiness.'  The  very  title  of  Kelly's  comedy  is,  in 
fact,  evidence  that  sentimental  delicacy  may  be  car- 
ried to  false  extremes.  Yet  with  every  allowance  of 
non-sentimental  elements  in  Kelly's  work,  it  remains 
indisputable  that  the  primary  appeal  of  the  dramatist 
is  to  sentimental  emotion.  The  chief  personages  voice 
their  sentiments  and  emit  their  moral  platitudes  in 
sober  earnest  and  with  a  reformer's  zeal.  Their 
speeches  are  without  the  irony  with  which  Sheridan 
turned  sentimental  rant  to  hypocritical  cant  in  the 
mouth  of  Joseph  Surface.  Kelly  cared  more  to  point 
a  moral  than  to  adorn  his  drama.  Even  false  deli- 
cacy does  not  prevent  the  blessings  of  comedy  from 
descending  at  last  upon  its  sentimental  children  and 
dismissing  them  with  a  dower  of  didactic  aphorisms. 
With  False  Delicacy  the  stage  has  become  a  school  of 
morality. 


272  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Kelly's  next  comedy,  A  Word  to  the  Wi^^^  (1770), 
was  crushed  by  the  hostile  attacks  of  his  political 
foes,  and  his  tragedy,  Clementina  (i 771),  by  its  own 
weight.  Mindful  of  his  enemies,  Kelly  produced,  un- 
der the  friendly  name  of  Adding  ton,  A  School  for 
Wives  (1773),  a  comedy  whose  continued  success  soon 
defied  opposition.  The  utter  failure  of  Th^  Man 
of  Reason  (1776)  caused  him  to  give  up  play- 
wntmg. 

The  leadership  of  sentimental  drama  may  be  said 
to  have  been  shared  between  Hugh  Kelly  and^SiR 
Rjc?^aJRB.CJapj;iy^  (1732-1811).  Yet  to-day 
Cumberland  Uves  less  as  a  dramatist  than  as  the  Sir 
Fretful  Plagiary  of  Sheridan's  Critic.  Cumberland's 
own  Memoirs  and  letters  unconsciously  prove  that 
Sheridan  portrayed  to  the  life  the  dramatist  whom 
Garrick  called  a  'man  without  a  skin.'^  It  is  not 
surprising  that  his  tender  sensibilities  found  con- 
genial employment  in  the  writing  of  sentimental 
drama.  Mathematical  honours  won  at  Cambridge  and 
various  posts  held  under  Lord  HaKfax  seemed  to 
promise  a  successful  poUtical  career.  But  when  Lord 
HaHfax  became  Secretary  of  State,  Cumberland's 
hopes  of  an  under-secretaryship  were  not  realized. 
Earlier  in  Hfe  he  had  written,  besides  a  play  upon 
Caractacus,  The  Banishment  of  Cicero,  which,  though 
declined  by  Garrick,  was  pubKshed  in  1761.  A  musi- 
cal comedy.  The  Summer^ s  Tale  (i  765) ,  acted  with  some 
success,  encouraged  Cumberland  to  essay  comedy. 
The^rothers  (1769)  had  more  than  a  score  of  perform- 
ances that  season  and  paved  the  way  for  the  con- 

^  Memoirs  of  Richard  Cumberland.    Written  by  himself ^  I,  347. 


XVI  THE  RISE  OF  SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA  273 

spicuous  success  of  The  West  Indian  (17  71).  The 
sentimental  hero,  young  Belcour,  is  pictured  as  'a 
heart  beaming  with  benevolence,  an  animated  na- 
ture, fallible  indeed,  but  not  incorrigible.'^'  About 
him  clings  a  sort  of  romantic  glamour.  He  returns 
to  London  from  the  West  Indies  the  inheritor  of  a 
vast  estate  from  his  grandfather,  who  believed  him  to 
be  a  foundling  left  at  his  daughter's  house  in  Jamaica. 
In  reality  Belcour  was  her  son,  and  Stockwell,  the 
merchant  to  whom  the  young  heir  betakes  himself 
in  London,  is  his  father.  The  hero's  fallibility  ap- 
pears in  his  base  design  upon  Louisa  Dudley,  daughter 
of  a  retired  captain.  Her  brother  Charles  has  been 
rejected  by  Lady  Rusport  on  the  score  of  poverty. 
Lady  Rusport's  estate,  however,  belongs  rightly  to 
Charles  Dudley,  and  she  bribes  her  lawyer  to  destroy 
the  will  which  discloses  the  truth.  From  such  melo- 
dramatic premises  it  is  easy  to  derive  the  conclusion. 
The  scheming  landlady  who  is  responsible  for  Bel- 
cour's  attempts  upon  Louisa  is  foiled  and  the  benev- 
olent heart  of  the  hero  is  rewarded  with  Louisa's 
hand.  Major  O'Flaherty,  an  Irish  officer,  who  may 
have  given  Sheridan  some  hints  for  Sir  Lucius 
O'Trigger,^  discloses  the  secret  of  the  will,  and  Charles 
Dudley  and  Miss  Rusport  come  into  their  own.  With 
the  departure  of  the  baffled  Lady  Rusport  and  Stock- 

iStockwell's  final  speech  (V,  8),  1771  edition,  p.  102. 

2  O'Flaherty's  objection  to  an  explanation  of  the  quarrel  to  the  in- 
tending duellists  (V,  i),  'Out  upon  it,  what  need  is  there  for  so  much 
talking  about  the  matter;  can't  you  settle  your  differences  first, 
and  dispute  about  'em  afterwards?'  at  least  suggests  O'Trigger's 
'  The  quarrel  is  a  very  pretty  quarrel  as  it  stands  —  we  should  only 
spoil  it,  by  trying  to  explain  it.' 
X 


274  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

welFs  disclosure  that  he  is  Belcour's  father,  the  cur- 
tain falls  with  the  double  sentiment  of  united  love  and 
reunited  family  affection.  If  Belcour  reminds  one 
somewhat  of  Tom  Jones,  Cumberland  uses  him  to 
point  the  lesson  that  sentiment  has  more  than  its  own 
reward. 

^The  Fashionable  Lover  (1772),  a  sentimental  comedy 
to  which  its  author  showed  strong  partiaHty,  repro- 
duces many  of  the  characters  and  situations  of  The 
West  Indian  —  virtuous  beauty  under  the  treacherous 
care  of  a  designing  woman,  the  baffled  intriguer  ulti- 
mately reformed,  property  misappropriated,  treachery 
unmasked,  and  sentimental  love  comfortably  ce- 
mented by  the  restoration  of  fortune.  Comedies 
such  as  these  represent  Cumberland  at  the  height  of 
his  dramatic  success  before  the  storm  had  broken  in 
full  force  upon  sentimental  drama.  Throughout  the 
century  and  through  the  first  decade  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  Cumberland  remained  a  prolific  play- 
wright. Among  some  fifty  dramatic  pieces  are  come- 
dies like  X^e  Jew  (1794)  and  The  Wheel  of  Fortune 
(1795),  which  continue  to  rescue  distressed  virtue 
from  moral  or  pecuniary  vicissitudes,  heavy  tragedies 
like  The  Battle  of  Hastings  (1778),  various  adapta- 
tions, and  numerous  pieces  which  happily  escaped 
print. 

Like  Kelly,  Cumberland  consciously  sought  to  make  \ 
the  stage  a  school  of  morality.  Even  after  Sheridan 
had  attacked  'the  sentimental  Muse,'  there  were  not 
wanting  critics  to  whom  the  cause  of  Cumberland 
was  identified  with  the  cause  of  morahty.  A  com- 
xnimication  to  The  Gentleman's  Magazine^  February, 


XVI  THE  RISE  OF  SENTIMENTAL  DRAMA  275 

1778,  entitled  'Animadversions  on  the  Moral  Tend- 
ency of  The  School  for  Scandal,'  defends  Cumberland 
in  significant  fashion :  '  It  has  been  said  that  this  is 
a  second  attempt  to  destroy  the  taste  for  sentimental 
comedy  revived  by  Mr.  Cumberland.  It  will  be 
readily  acknowledged,  that  the  plays  of  that  gentle- 
man may  tend  to  produce  an  affectation  of  sentiment ; 
but  it  is  better  to  affect  sentiment  than  vice :  and  Mr. 
Cumberland  has  judiciously  executed  the  whole  duty 
of  an  author,  which  is,  not  only  to  paint  nature,  but  to 
paint  such  parts  of  it,  as  every  good  man  would  wish 
to  see  imitated.'  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  wherein 
lay  Cumberland's  strength  when  sentimental  comedy 
was  at  its  height,  since  not  even  The  School  for  Scandal 
could  laugh  out  of  countenance  the  ultra-moraHsts. 
Yet,  in  reaUty,  Cumberland's  own  Belcour  is  reclaimed 
from  quite  as  flagrant  youthful  errors  as  those  of 
Charles  Surface,  and  his  heart  beams  with  no  greater 
benevolence  than  that  of  Sheridan's  'fallible,  but  not 
incorrigible'  hero.  Cumberland  has  the  sentimental 
dramatist's  lack  of  differentiation  of  character.  He 
invests  the  good  with  a  moral  halo,  and  stamps  the 
bad  with  the  mark  of  Cain.  For  power  of  character 
he  substitutes  strength  of  sentiment,  and  for  truth 
to  nature  an  artificial  manipulation  of  circumstance. 
The  'happy  endings'  of  Cumberland's  sentimental 
plays  are  not  the  logical  outcome  of  natural  comedy 
but  are  achieved  by  a  tour  de  force  of  moralized  melo- 
drama. Dramatic  probability,  as  well  as  mirth,  is 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  sentiment.  Sentimental 
drama,  which  was  ready  to  borrow  from  tragedy  its 
pathetic  appeal,  did  not  hesitate  to  capture  destiny 


< 


276  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  xvi 

with  the  enchanted  bridle  of  sentiment.  It  was  mas- 
ter of  its  own  fate,  for  it  not  merely  caused  the  sun 
to  shine  on  the  good  and  the  rain  to  fall  on  the  unjust, 
but  it  made  temporal  prosperity  the  handmaiden  to 
morality. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GOLDSMITH  AND  THE  REACTION  IN  COMEDY 

While  sentimental  comedy  was  attaining  its  bad 
eminence  in  the  plays  of  Kelly  and  Cumberland,  the  < 
forces  of  reaction  found  a  powerful  leader  in  Qliver 
Goldsmith  (i  728-1 774).  In  The  Present  State  of 
Polite  Learning  (1759),  Goldsmith  had  indignantly 
resented  the  dominance  of  'genteel  comedy.'  In  The  , 
Good  Natur'd  Man  (1768),  he  put  into  actual  practice 
his  theory  as  to  the  proper  function  of  genuine 
comedy.  Doubtless  his  hostihty  toward  sentimental 
comedy  was  intensified  by  the  vexatious  delays  which 
thwarted  his  attempts  to  have  Garrick  produce  his 
piece,  and  finally  by  Garrick's  evident  determination 
to  have  Hugh  Kelly's  False  Delicacy  overshadow  The 
Good  Natur'd  Man.  Goldsmith's  belated  comedy 
was  eventually  produced  by  Colman  at  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  29  January,  1768.  Its  moderate 
success  proved  that  neither  the  gloomy  forebodings  <^ 
of  the  manager  and  actors  nor  the  high  hopes  of  the 
author  were  fully  justified.^  In  the  hands  of  Shuter 
and  Woodward,  Croaker  and  Lofty  were  successful 
parts.  Yet  Powell  failed  to  animate  the  r61e  of  hero, 
and  the  false  delicacy  of  a  sentimental  audience  could 
not  brook  the  descent  of  comedy  to  a  scene  so  'low'  as 
that  of  the  baiHffs.    The  discussion  which  had  been 

^  The  tenth  performance  was  on  21  March.    Genest,  V,  204. 
277 


278  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

waged  before  the  production  of  the  piece  as  to  the 
inclusion  of  the  baihffs'  scene  ended,  after  the  actual 
test,  in  its  being  'retrenched.'  ^ 

The  Preface  to  the  printed  edition  of  The  Good 
Natur^d  Man  is  not  too  brief  to  indicate  Goldsmith's 
attitude  toward  sentimental  drama  and  his  own  in- 
tention in  comedy.  'When  I  undertook  to  write  a 
comedy,'  he  begins,  'I  confess  I  was  strongly  pre- 
possessed in  favour  of  the  poets  of  the  last  age,  and 
^^strove  to  imitate  them.  The  term,  genteel  comedy, 
was  then  unknown  amongst  us,  and  little  more  was 
desired  by  an  audience  than  nature  and  humour  in 
whatever  walks  of  Hfe  they  were  most  conspicuous. 
The  author  of  the  following  scenes  never  imagined 
that  more  would  be  expected  of  him,  and  therefore 
to  delineate  character  has  been  his  principal  aim.' 
In  discussing  his  restoration,  in  the  printed  text,  of 
the  bailiffs'  scene  which  had  been  'retrenched'  in  the 
representation  'in  deference  to  the  public  taste, 
grown  of  late,  perhaps,  too  dehcate,'  he  expresses  the 
hope  'that  too  much  refinement  will  not  banish  hu- 
mour and  character  from  our's,  as  it  has  already  done 
from  the  French  theatre.  Indeed  the  French  comedy 
is  now  become  so  very  elevated  and  sentimental  that 
it  has  not  only  banished  humour  and  Moliere  from  the 
stage,  but  it  has  banished  all  spectators  too.'  Despite 
protestation  that  'upon  the  whole,  the  author  returns 
his  thanks  to  the  pubhc  for  the  favourable  reception ' 
of  his  play.  Goldsmith  fails  to  disguise  his  disappoint- 
ment at  the  imperfect  success  of  his  comedy  and  his 

*  This  scene  was,  however,  included  in  the  printed  edition,  and  was 
restored  *by  particular  desire,'  3  May,  1773.    Genest,  V,  372. 


xvn      GOLDSMITH  AND  REACTION  IN  COMEDY       279 

impatience  with  the  continued  popularity  of  senti- 
mental drama.  Yet  the  temporary  victory  of  Hugh 
Kelly  was  but  natural.  While  he  sailed  triumphantly 
with  the  favouring  tide  of  sentiment,  Goldsmith  en- 
countered adverse  currents. 

K  contemporary  criticism  of  The  Good  Natur^d  Man 
was  unduly  severe,  recent  criticism  has  sometimes 
erred  on  the  side  of  leniency.  Judged  by  the  test 
of  modern  stage  revival,^  Goldsmith's  earlier  comedy 
sustains  no  such  comparison  with  She  Stoops  to 
Conquer  as  may  be  made  between  The  Rivals  and 
The  School  for  Scandal.  Croaker  and  Lofty  remain  L 
excellent  character  parts,  and  the  dialogue,  though 
often  laboured,  is  touched  with  Irish  humour,  but 
perhaps  only  the  bailiffs'  scene,  Lofty's  entrance,  and 
Croaker's  reading  of  the  letter  seem  genuinely  effective. 
Neither  in  dramatic  construction  nor  in  character- 
ization has  Goldsmith  fully  developed  his  latent 
dramatic  strength.  Too  much  of  the  mechanism  of  C 
plot  is  left  crudely  exposed  to  view.  Especially 
clumsy  is  the  scene  in  which  Leontine  and  Olivia 
recount  the  events  that  have  led  to  their  flight  from 
France  and  have  involved  them  in  an  artificial  maze 
of  circumstance.  Their  dialogue  is  so  obviously 
achieved  for  the  benefit  of  the  audience  that  it  recalls 
Bangle's  innocent  query,  in  Sheridan's  Critic,  as  to 
the  opening  dialogue  in  Puff's  tragedy:  ^Mr.  Puff, 
as  he  knows  all  this,  why  does  Sir  Walter  go  on  telling 
him?'  and  Puff's  rejoinder:  'But  the  audience  are 
not  supposed  to  know  any  thing  of  the  matter,  are 

*  It  was  revived  by  the  Yale  University  Dramatic  Association  in 
1903. 


28o  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

they?'  Goldsmith's  very  lines  betray  an  uneasy 
consciousness  of  some  of  the  improbabilities  upon 
which  the  situation  is  made  to  rest.  Leontine 
has  been  'sent  to  France  to  bring  home  a  sister/ 
but  has  substituted  his  sweetheart,  OUvia.  With 
an  evident  sense  of  obHgation  to  account  for  the 
complete  success  of  this  deception,  he  remarks: 
'My  sister,  you  know,  has  been  with  her  aunt  at 
Lyons,  since  she  was  a  child.'  A  single  letter  from 
France  would  obviously  disclose  all.  Accordingly, 
Leontine  is  forced  to  explain  that  'her  aunt  scarce 
ever  writes,  and  all  my  sister's  letters  are  directed  to 
me.'  But  there  are  other  improbabihties  besides 
those  in  exposition  of  plot.  The  butler  who  is  'drunk 
and  sober  ten  times  a  day'  seems  hardly  in  place 
even  in  the  easy-going  household  of  Young  Honey- 
wood,  and  his  drunken  eccentricities  of  speech  and 
conduct  suggest  farcical  exaggeration.  The  most 
effective  characters,  Lofty  and  Croaker,  are  essentially 
'humour'  characters,  and  Croaker's  apprehensiveness 
of  trouble  seems  rather  overdone.  The  weakness  of 
the  amiable  hero  does  not  fully  excuse  his  colourless 
portrayal.  Young  Honeywood  has  neither  the  vivac- 
ity nor  the  individuality  of  Charles  Surface.  Nor 
is  such  criticism  too  severe,  since  Goldsmith  pro- 
fessed that  his  'principal  aim'  was  'to  delineate 
character.'  In  contrast  with  the  sentimentalities  of 
contemporary  comedy,  The  Good  Natur^d  Man  un- 
deniably merits  generous  recognition.  Yet,  judged 
by  (joldsmith's  own  standard  of  later  achievement, 
it  is  a  tentative  dramatic  experiment.  If  the  touch  of 
a  master  is  at  times  discernible,  there  yet  remain 
many  marks  of  an  apprentice  hand. 


xvn      GOLDSMITH  AND  REACTION  IN  COMEDY      281 

The  real  difference  between  The  Good  Natur^d  Man 
and  the  sentimental  comedies  of  the  period  lies 
perhaps  rather  in  general  atmosphere  than  in  the 
handHng  of  plot  and  character.  The  mawkish 
excesses  of  sentimentality  give  way  to  healthier 
sentiment  and  heartier  comic  energy.  There  are 
flashes  of  Goldsmith's  Irish  humour  as  when,  to 
Leon  tine's  remonstrance,  ^An  only  son,  sir,  might 
expect  more  indulgence,'  Croaker  rejoins,  'An  only 
father,  sir,  might  expect  more  obedience '  (I,  i) .  In  the 
excellent  scene  where  Honeywood  tries  to  pass  off 
as  officers  the  bailiffs  who  have  just  arrested  him, 
he  parries  Miss  Richland's  embarrassing  thrust, 
*The  gentlemen  are  in  the  marine  service,  I  presume, 
sir?'  with  unusual  dexterity:  'Why,  madam,  they 
do  —  occasionally  serve  in  the  Fleet,  madam  ! '  Yet, 
despite  the  usual  buoyancy  and  hearty  spirit  of  the 
play,  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  evidence  of  the  uncon- 
scious influence  of  conventional  drama  upon  even 
such  a  reactionary  against  sentimentality  as  Gold- 
smith. 

Young  Honeywood,  the  'good-natur'd,  foolish, 
open-hearted '  hero,  whose  faults  —  at  least  to  faith- 
ful Jarvis  —  'are  such  that  one  loves  him  still  the 
better  for  them,'  has  traits  of  Tom  Jones  which  have 
been  seen  in  Kelly's  sentimental  hero  and  some  phrases 
of  sentimental  diction.  Under  the  doleful  contagion 
of  Croaker,  he  lapses  in  the  opening  scene  into  gloomy 
aphorisms,  terminating  a  soliloquy  on  his  hapless 
fate  with  a  sigh,  and  at  the  final  curtain  he  draws  a 
moral  from  the  error  of  his  ways.  Sir  William 
Honeywood,  the  benevolent  uncle  —  an  earlier  Sir 


282  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Oliver  Teazle  who  remains  ^  for  some  time  a  concealed 
spectator '  of  his  nephew's  follies  and  dissipation  — 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  that  besets  superior  virtue 
to  moralize  on  human  frailties,  and  bestows  his  final 
benediction  with  this  warning :  '  Henceforth,  nephew, 
learn  to  respect  yourself.  He  who  seeks  only  for 
applause  from  without,  has  all  his  happiness  in 
another's  keeping.'  There  is  no  need  to  lay  undue 
stress  on  phrases  that  hastily  precede  the  final  cur- 
tain, yet  both  the  moralized  ending  of  The  Good 
Natur^d  Man  and  the  surcharged  sentiment  of  the 
concluding  lines  of  both  The  Rivals  and  The  School  for 
Scandal  show  that  not^even  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan 
wholly  shook  off  the  yoke  of  sentimental  drama 
against  which  they  were  essentially  in  revolt.  Only 
in  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  does  the  genuine  comic 
spirit  maintain  its  triumph  over  sentimental  drama 
to  the  very  end. 

Notwithstanding  its  significance  to  the  modern 
observer  of  dramatic  tendencies.  The  Good  Natur'd 
Man  failed,  for  the  moment,  to  endanger  seriously  the 
popularity  of  sentimental  drama.  The  success  of 
Hugh  Kelly's  False  Delicacy  was  reenforced  by  that 
of  Richard  Cumberland's  West  Indian.  The  battle, 
however,  was  not  to  be  decided  by  the  outcome  of  a 
preliminary  skirmish.  The  enemy's  advantage  in 
numbers  and  position  may  have  postponed  the 
crucial  attack,  but  did  not  finally  deter  opposition. 
Gpldsmith  bided  his  time.  In  177 1  he  was  busy  with 
the  composition  of  a  new  comedy,  but  not  until  many 
months  after  its  completion  did  he  secure  the  pro- 
duction, on  15  March,  1773,  of  She  Stoops  to  Conquer ^ 


xvn      GOLDSMITH  AND   REACTION  IN  COMEDY      283 

Of  The  Mistakes  of  a  Night.  Despite  the  friendly 
offices  of  Doctor  Johnson,  Goldsmith's  path  had 
been  beset  with  obstacles.  Small  credit  attaches  to 
Colman's  ultimate  production  of  a  comedy  whose 
advent  he  had  hindered  by  procrastination  and  in- 
difference, and  whose  chances  of  success  he  had  en- 
dangered by  predictions  of  failure.  In  the  admirable 
dedication  of  the  printed  edition  of  the  play  to  Doc- 
tor Johnson,  Goldsmith  inserted  a  palpable  hit  at 
the  faint-heartedness  and  apathy  of  his  manager : 
'The  undertaking  a  comedy,  not  merely  sentimental, 
was  very  dangerous;  and  Mr.  Colman,  who  saw 
this  piece  in  its  various  stages,  always  thought  it  so. 
However,  I  ventured  to  trust  it  to  the  public'  This 
trust  was  not  misplaced.  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  C^ 
proved  so  popular  that  Foote  acted  it  during  the  sum- 
mer season  at  the  Haymarket,  and  Colman  con- 
tinued it  next  season  at  Coven t  Garden.  To-day  it 
remains  as  one  of  the  few  plays  since  Shakespeare 
that  hold  the  stage  after  the  test  of  more  than  a 
century. 

The  delays  that  attended  its  initial  production  were, 
doubtless,  not  so  unfortunate  as  they  were  vexatious. 
Meantime,  in  December,  1772,  Goldsmith  had  con- 
tributed to  the  Westminster  Magazine  his  notable 
Essay  on  the  Theatre;  or,  A  Comparison  between 
Laughing  and  Sentimental  Comedy.  In  it  argument 
and  satire  combine  to  press  the  question  '  whether  (^ 
the  true  comedy  would  not  amuse  us  more'  than 
*this  species  of  bastard  tragedy'  called  sentimental 
comedy.  In  February,  1773,  the  powerful  weapon  of 
burlesque  was  directed  against  sentimental  comedy 


284  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

by  the  practised  hand  of  Samuel  Foote.  The  Hand- 
some Housemaid,  or  Piety  in  Pattens,  professed  to  show- 
how  a  humble  heroine, '  by  the  mere  effects  of  morality 
and  virtue,  raised  herself  to  riches  and  honours.'^ 
In  the  spirit  of  Goldsmith's  raillery  at  mankind's 
Melight  in  weeping  at  comedy/  Foote  now  declared 
that  ^his  brother  writers  had  all  agreed  that  it  was 
highly  improper,  and  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  mixed 
assembly,  to  show  any  signs  of  joyful  satisfaction ;  and 
that  creating  a  laugh  was  forcing  the  higher  order  of 
an  audience  to  a  vulgar  and  mean  use  of  their  muscles/ 
In  his  exordium  to  the  audience,  he  promised  that 
*not  a  single  expression  shall  escape  from  our  mouths 
that  can  wound  the  nicest  ear,  or  produce  a  blush  on 
the  most  transparent  skin,  not  even  a  double  entendre 
from  an  Irish  Widow.'*  ^  In  thus  burlesquing  the  false 
delicacies  of  morahzed  sentimental  drama,  Foote 
helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  hearty  laughter  of 
Goldsmith's  comedy. 
1^-  The  main  title  of  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  is  an  adapta- 
tion of  a  Hne  from  Dryden,  and  the  subtitle.  The 
Mistakes  of  a  Night,  was  one  of  various  early  sug- 
gestions for  naming  the  play.  A  few  weeks  before 
its  production,  Doctor  Johnson  wrote  to  Boswell,  24 
February,  1773,  'The  chief  diversion  arises  from  a 
stratagem  by  which  a  lover  is  made  to  mistake  his 
future  father-in-law's  house  for  an  inn.  This,  you 
see,  bo£degjipon  farce. '^  Farcical  elements,  indeed, 
are  frequent  in  She  Stoops  to  Conquer.     Goldsmith 

1  Genest,  V,  374-377- 

2  W.  C.  Oulton,  The  History  of  the  Theatres  of  London,  1796,  I,  21. 
'  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson,  Hill  edition,  1887,  II,  205-206, 


XVII       GOLDSMITH  AND  REACTION  IN  COMEDY      285 

has  sometimes  been  defended  from  the  imputation 
of  farce  on  the  ground  that  he  himself  actually  ex- 
perienced  the  mistake  to  which  Johnson  referred,  butj^o^^ 
the  improbability  in  plot  lies  not  in  the  initial  error  J)  ^ 
of  confusing  a  private  house  with  an  inn,  but  in  '^'^'^ 
the  prolongation  of  the  mistake.  Mrs.  Hardcastle's 
excessive  timidity,  likewise,  'borders  upon  farce' 
when  she  fails  to  recognize  that '  Crackskull  Common ' 
is,  in  reality,  her  own  garden,  and  that  the  supposed 
highwayman  is  her  husband.  The  story  that  Sheri- 
dan played  on  Madame  de  Genlis  a  trick  like  Tony's 
deception  of  Mrs.  Hardcastle  may  be  offset  by  the 
more  famihar  story  that  Goldsmith,  upon  his  belated 
arrival  at  the  theatre  on  the  opening  night  of  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer,  heard  *a  solitary  hiss  at  the  improbability 
of  Mrs.  Hardcastle  J  in  her  own  garden,  supposing  her- 
self forty  miles  off  on  CrackscuU  common.'  ^  Young 
Marlow's  extreme  bashfulness  hardly  accounts  for  his 
failure  to  recognize  the  mistress  in  the  maid.  Nor 
are  Goldsmith's  demands  upon  the  credulity  of 
the  audience  confined  to  postulates  of  the  plot. 
The  conception  of  Young  Marlow  as  a  lion  among 
maids  and  a  sheep  among  ladies  is  pushed  beyond 
natural  bounds.  There  is  inconsistency,  as  Austin 
Dobson  has  well  pointed  out,^  in  the  fact  that  'Tony  ^i_ 
Lumpkin,  who  in  Act  IV  is  so  ilhterate  as  not  to  be 
able  to  read  more  than  his  own  name  in  script,  is 
clever  enough,  in  Act  I,  to  have  composed  the  excel- 
lent song  of  The  Three  Pigeons '  —  one  stanza  of 
which  is  reminiscent  of  Latin  grammar  and  classical 

*  Forster,  Life  and  Adventures  of  Oliver  Goldsmith^  1848,  p.  631. 

*  Belles-Lettres  edition  of  Goldsmith's  plays,  Introduction,  p.  xxviii. 


286  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

mythology.  Such  improbabilities  in  plot  and  charac- 
ter are  more  apparent  to  the  reader  than  to  the 
audience  in  the  theatre,  yet,  while  it  would  be  folly 
to  forget  the  theatrical  effectiveness  of  exaggeration, 
it  is  easy  to  justify  Doctor  Johnson's  dictum  that  the 
play  'borders  upon  farce.' 
\i«liArW^  Despite  the  presence  of  farcical  elements,  however, 
jj^^J[^5/fe  Stoops  to  Conquer  is,  in  a  larger  sense,  natural 

- !lf^  comedy.     Here  is  neither  the  artificial  constraint  of 

the  conventional  comedy  of  manners,  nor  the  self- 
conscious  diction  of  sentimental  comedy.  The  at- 
mosphere is  like  that  of  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 
The  buoyant  spirit  already  heralded  in  Farquhar's 
Beauxl  Stratagem'^  finds  in  Goldsmith  free  utterance. 
The  fresh  air  of  out-of-doors  sweeps  through  the 
windows  of  the  old  Hardcastle  mansion.  Mr.  Hard- 
castle  himself  has  the  native  simplicity  and  courtesy 
of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  With  him  sentiment 
resumes  sincerity:  'I  love  every  thing  that's  old: 
old  friends,  old  times,  old  manners,  old  books,  old 
wine;  and,  I  believe,  Dorothy,  you'll  own  I  have 
been  pretty  fond  of  an  old  wife.'  The  stage  direction 
that  bids  him  take  his  wife's  hand  is  almost  an  im- 
pertinence. His  very  failings  seem  the  natural  out- 
growth of  his  simpHcity.  One  turns  gratefully  from 
his  wife's  impatience  with  his  'old  stories  of  Prince 
Eugene  and  the  Duke  of  Marlborough'  to  the  un- 
wavering loyalty  of  'honest'  Diggory  who  has  laughed 
these  twenty  years  at  his  master's  'story  of  Ould 

1  Goldsmith,  it  may  be  noted,  makes  Miss  Hardcastle  remark : 
'Don't  you  think  I  look  something  like  Cherry  in  the  Beaux'  Strata- 
gem?'(UIyi). 


xvn      GOLDSMITH  AND  REACTION  IN  COMEDY      287 

Grouse  in  the  gun-room/  Nowhere,  indeed,  can 
Goldsmith's  natural  humour  be  more  readily  observed  <c 
than  by  contrasting  Diggory  with  one  of  Sheridan's 
witty  valets.  Captain  Absolute's  servant  Fag  is  as 
clever  as  his  master  —  that  is  to  say,  as  Sheridan 
himself.  Diggory's  humour  is  as  unconscious  as 
that  of  Dogberry.  With  him  the  conventions  of 
society  cannot  override  the  laws  of  nature.  Hunger 
is  a  primal  instinct :  ^  Whenever  Diggory  sees  yea  ting 
going  forward,  ecod,  he's  always  wishing  for  a  mouth- 
ful himself.'  If  it  be  heresy  to  hint  a  preference  for 
Mr.  Hardcastle  and  honest  Diggory  as  character 
creations,  there  is  no  need  to  deny  Tony  Lumpkin  his 
accepted  place  as  Goldsmith's  most  effective  stage 
chara(^ter.  A  country  bumpkin,  as  perhaps  his  very 
name  impHes,  and  a  'mamma's  darling,'  Tony 
Lumpkin  is  yet  the  subject  of  laughter  even  more  than 
its  object.  'This  is  not  altogether  fool.'  It  is  not 
wholly  selfishness  that  prompts  his  sympathy  with 
the  lovers,  nor  is  it  the  '  Squire's  prestige  that  secures 
him  the  head  of  the  table  at  'The  Three  Pigeons.' 
And  if  wits  must  be  measured,  Tony  is  quicker  to 
invent  the  hoax  of  the  Hardcastle  '  Inn '  than  Young 
Marlow  is  to  detect  it.  The  best  of  Goldsmith's 
characters,  in  fact,  are  so  admirably  portrayed  that 
they  might  stand  by  themselves,  indepejgideat  of  the 
necessities  of  plo t . 

In   dramatic    presentation   of   women,  Goldsmith  < 
seems    less    effective.     In    The    Good  Natur^d  Man, 
Croaker  and  Lofty  overshadow  the  other  characters. 
In  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  the  title  lends  a  some- 
what fictitious  importance  to  the  part  of  the  heroine. 


288  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Her  effectiveness  rests,  to  a  marked  degree,  with  the 
actress.  Miss  Hardcastle  and  Miss  Neville  mark 
an  advance  over  Miss  Richland  and  Olivia,  but  are 
not  sufficiently  differentiated.  Mrs.  Hardcastle,  like 
Mrs.  Croaker  in  the  earHer  comedy,  is  overdependent 
upon  farcical  appeal.  There  is,  perhaps,  a  hint  of 
more  genuine  vitaHty  in  Tony's  Bet  Bouncer,  with 
Hwo  eyes  as  black  as  sloes,  and  cheeks  as  broad  and 
red  as  a  pulpit  cushion,'  than  in  many  of  the  women 
whom  Goldsmith  actually  introduces  on  his  stage. 
Goldsmith  might  sympathize  ^when  lovely  woman 
stoops  to  folly,'  but  his  insight  into  the  springs  of  her 
character  was  not  deep.  If  Miss  Hardcas tie's  wit  is 
nimble  enough  to  stoop  to  conquer  as  a  barmaid, 
she  might  conceivably  have  had  wit  enough  to  prevail 
in  her  own  person  as  mistress.  Both  in  plot  and  in 
character,  then.  Goldsmith  tends  to  impose  too  much 
on  the  credulity  of  his  audience.  The  postulates  of 
his  drama  often  suggest  the  exaggeration  of  farce 
rather  than  the  subtler  truth  of  the  'comedie  humaine.' 
In  dramatic  structure,  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  shows 
marked  improvement  over  The  Good  Natur^d  Man. 
Both  plays,  indeed,  are  ahke  in  their  usual  preference 
for  'exEeglatiQn '  rather  than  for  'surprise'  as  the 
dramatic  motive.  The  opening  scene  of  the  earlier 
comedy  reveals  Sir  William  Honey  wood's  pl.an  to  the 
audience;  and  the  mistakes  of  a  night  delude  only 
the  dramatis  personce.  The  audience  knows  that 
the  Hardcastle  house  is  not  an  inn,  that  the  barmaid 
is  Miss  Hardcastle,  and  that  Mrs.  Hardcastle  is  not 
on  CrackskuU  Common.  The  concealment  of  Tony's 
age,  however,  seems  an  artificial  device  to  precipitate 


xvn      GOLDSMITH  :AND  REACTION  IN  COMEDY      289 

the  final  solution.  Both  plays,  in  fact,  are  compli- 
cated with  improbabilities  of  plot  and  incident.  Yet 
in  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  the  exposition  is  no  longer' 
crude,  the  threads  of  plot  are  more  firmly  knit,  and 
the  dramatic  interest  is  more  thoroughly  sustained 
through  a  series  of  effective  stage  situations.  The 
various  transfers  of  Miss  Neville's  jewels  are  ingeniously 
contrived  to  stimulate  and  to  heighten  interest  in 
their  ultimate  fate.  Tony's  mischievous  tricks  con- 
tribute directly  to  the  development  of  the  plot.  Even 
the  alehouse  scene,  which  might  find  sufficient  justi- 
fication as  a  background  for  Tony  Lumpkin  and  as 
comic  relief  from  the  scenes  in  the  Hardcastle  house, 
supplies  the  misdirection  of  the  travellers  which  in- 
volves them  in  the  mistakes  of  the  night.  The  con- 
tinued popularity  of  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  is  the  most 
obvious  proof  of  its  dramatic  effectiveness. 

Though  Goldsmith's  comedy  received  the  'very 
kind  reception'  which  Doctor  Johnson,  even  prior  to  its 
performance,  thought  it  deserved,  its  success  did  not 
pass  unchallenged.  A  few  days  after  its  production, 
the  scurrilous  Kenrick,  not  content  with  terming 
The  Good  Natur^d  Man  'water-gruel'  and  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer  'sl  speaking  pantomime,'  turned  his  libel  in 
the  London  Packet  against  Goldsmith's  private  life. 
Horace  Walpole,  in  a  familiar  passage,^  uttered  a 
patrician  remonstrance  against  Goldsmith's  plebeian 
humour.  '  Dr.  Goldsmith  has  written  a  comedy  —  no, 
it  is  the  lowest  of  all  farces.  It  is  not  the  subject  I 
condemn,  though  very  vulgar,  but  the  execution. 
The  drift  tends  to  no  moral,  no  edification  of  any  kind. 

^Letters  of  Horace  Walpole,  Toynbee  edition,  VIII,  260. 
u 


290  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap,  xvn 

The  situations,  however,  are  well  imagined,  and 
make  one  laugh,  in  spite  of  the  grossness  of  the  dia- 
logue, the  forced  witticisms,  and  total  improbability 
of  the  whole  plan  and  conduct.  But  what  disgusts 
me  most  is,  that  though  the  characters  are  very  low, 
and  aim  at  low  humour,  not  one  of  them  says  a 
sentence  that  is  natural,  or  marks  any  character  at 
all.'  Happily,  the  'power'  of  that  one  single  mono- 
syllable — '  low '  —  had  waned  since  the  day  when 
Goldsmith  had  refused  to  bow  down  and  worship  at 
the  altar  of  'genteel  comedy.'  In  the  alehouse  scene 
of  his  opening  act,  he  deliberately  bandied  the  epithet 
which  had  fastened  itself  on  his  former  bailiffs'  scene 
back  upon  his  critics.  In  the  comments  of  the  'sev- 
eral shabby  fellows '  of '  The  Three  Pigeons '  upon  Tony 
Lumpkin's  song  more  is  meant  than  meets  the  ear. 

First  Fellow.    The  'Squire  has  got  spunk  in  him. 

Second  Fellow.  I  loves  to  hear  him  sing,  bekeays  he  never 
gives  us  nothing  that's  low. 

Third  Fellow.    O  damn  any  thing  that's  low,  I  cannot  bear  it! 

Fourth  Fellow.  The  genteel  thing  is  the  genteel  thing  at  any- 
time. If  so  be  that  a  gentleman  bees  in  a  concatenation 
accordingly. 

Third  Fellow.  I  like  the  maxum  of  it,  Master  Muggins. 
What,  tho'  I  am  obligated  to  dance  a  bear,  a  man  may 
be  a  gentleman  for  all  that.  May  this  be  my  poison  if 
my  bear  ever  dances  but  to  the  very  genteelest  of  tunes : 
Water  Parted,  or  the  minuet  in  Ariadne. 

It  was  no  longer  necessary  for  Goldsmith  to  put  thai 
question  'which  deserves  the  preference,  —  the  weep-  ^ 
ing  sentimental  comedy  ...  or  the  laughing,  and  even 
low  comedy  ? '    The  whirligig  of  time  had  brought  in 
his  revenges. 


--4&^^g^w 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

RICHARD    BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 


The  dramatic  work  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheri-  K 
DAN  (1751-1816)  marks  at  once  the  height  of  the  (J 
reaction  against  sentimental  drama  and  the  most 
finished  achievement  0/  the  English  comedy  of 
manners.  In  the  warfare*,  with  sentimentality  Gold- 
smith was  an  'elder,  not  a  better,  soldier'  than 
Sheridan.  From  the  deliberate  challenge,  in  the  later 
Prologue  to  The  Rivals,  to  the  authority  of  Hhe 
Goddess  of  the  woeful  countenance —  The  sentimental 
Muse,'  to  the  mockery,  in  The  Critic,  of  the  'edifica- 
tion' derived  from  the  tearful  travails  of  labouring 
sentiment,  Sheridan  constantly  ridiculed  the  efforts 
of  'genteel  comedy'  to  convert  the\  theatre  into  a 
'school  of  morality.'  Yet  he  was  not  .merely  a  de- 
structive satirist,  but  a  constructive  aramatist.  If 
he  disarmed  comedy  of  her  weapon  of  sentiment,  he  » 
whetted  anew  for  her  the  sword  of  incisive  wit  which 
had  been  dulled  by  long  neglect.  With  a  briUiancy 
of  dialogue  unmatched  in  EngHsh  comedy  since  Con- 
greve,  and  with  a  mastery  of  dramatic  art  unrivalled 
since  EHzabethan  drama,  Sheridan  reclaimed  the  r 
Restoration  comedy  of  manners  and  purged  it  of 
offence. 

Sheridan  came  into  possession  of  drama  by  natural 
inheritance.    His  father,  Thomas  Sheridan,  was  by 

291 


292  ENGLISH   DRAMA  CHAP. 

turns  actor,  theatre  manager,  elocivtionist,  and  lexi- 
cographer. His  mother,  Frances  Chamber laine,  pro- 
duced, in  the  Memoirs  of  Miss  Sidmey  Bidulph  (1761), 
a  novel  which  won  Doctor  Johns,on's  praise,  and  in 
The  Discovery  (1763)  a  comedy  in  which  Garrick 
achieved  distinct  success.  Her  unfinished  comedy, 
A  Journey  to  Bath,  seems  to  show  in  the  person  of 
Mrs.  Try  fort  the  most  immediate  ancestress  of  Mrs. 
Malaprop.  The  familiar  stor^  of  Richard  Brinsley  ' 
Sheridan's  courtship  of  Elizab  eth  Linley,  the  favourite 
of  the  Bath  concert  stage,  with  its  attendant  circum- 
stances of  elopement,  duels,  and  journeys  that  ended 
in  lovers  meeting,  is  in  itself  a  dramatic  romance. 
Early  evidence  of  Sheridan's  interest  in  drama  is 
to  be  found  in  his  revision,  under  the  title  of  Jupiter, 
of  a  farce,  Ixion,  written  by  his  Harrow  schoolmate, 
Halhed.  A  sentence  from  one  of  Halhed's  letters 
shows  that  the  idea  of  recasting  the  play  in  the  form 
of  a  rehearsal,  ?iter  the  fashion  set  by  Villiers  in 
The  Rehearsal,  was  due  to  Sheridan.  Simile  and  his 
companions,  who  interrupt  the  progress  of  the  re- 
hearsal with  questions,  evidently  foreshadow  Puff, 
Dangle,  and  Sneer.  Jupiter  failed  to  appeal  to  the 
managers,  but  in  The  Critic  Sheridan  reaHzed  the 
possibilities  of  its  general  framework.  The  collabo- 
ration of  Halhed  and  Sheridan  had,  however,  some 
tangible  result,  in  the  publication  of  a  verse  trans- 
lation of  The  Love  Epistles  of  Aristcenetus  (1771), 
which  managed  to  achieve  a  second  edition.  With 
the  removal  of  the  Sheridan  family  to  Bath,  in  1770, 
Richard  Sheridan's  interest  was  soon  diverted  to  the 
actual  world  of  fashionable  society.    In  Qlig^s  Protest 


XVIII  RICHARD   BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  293 

he  rhymed  some  of  the  reigning  beauties  of  Bath, 
and  in  the  form  of  a  humorous  epistle,  written  in  the 
popular  fashion  of  Christopher  Anstey's  New  Bath 
Guide,  he  penned  some  occasional  verses  for  the  open- 
ing of  the  new  Assembly  Rooms.  Unconsciously, 
perhaps,  he  was  roughly  sketching  scenes  which  were 
soon  to  supply  him  with  a  setting  for  actual  drama. 

After  his  marriage,  Sheridan  found  necessity  the 
mother  of  dramatic  invention.  Turning  instinctively 
to  playwriting  for  a  hvelihood,  he  found  in  Bath 
society  a  natural  background  for  comedy.  On  17 
January,  1775,  The  Rivals  was  produced  at  Co  vent 
Garden  Theatre  .^"^arious  causes  combined  to  make  C 
the  first  performance  a  failure  —  excessive  length, 
incompetent  acting,  especially  on  the  part  of  Lee,  as 
Sir  Lucius  0 'Trigger,  and  of  Shuter,  who  was  grossly- 
ignorant  of  his  Unes  as  Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  and 
opposition  in  the  audience,  perhaps  partly  malicious 
and  certainly  somewhat  resentful  of  'so  villainous  a 
portrait  of  an  Irish  Gentleman '  ^  as  that  of  Sir 
Lucius.  ^The  Rivals,  as  a  Comedy,'  remarked  The 
Public  Ledger  of  18  January,  'requires  much  castiga- 
tion  and  the  pruning  hand  of  judgment,  before  it  can 
ever  pass  on  the  Town  as  even  a  tolerable  Piece.' 
In  deference  to  the  general  verdict,  the  play  was  with- 
drawn and  vigorously  revised.  The  second  ^  per-^ 
formance,  on   28  January,  was  a  marked  success. 

*  This  and  subsequent  critical  excerpts  are  from  contemporary 
newspapers  and  magazines,  cited  in  full  in  the  Appendix  to  the  present 
writer's  Major  Dramas  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  pp.  313-320. 

'  The  usual  assertion  that  The  Rivals  was  produced  a  second  time  be- 
fore its  withdrawal  for  revision  is  fully  disproved.  Ibid.,  pp.  Ixvi-lxvii. 


294  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Clinch  was  substituted  for  Lee  in  the  part  of  Sir 
Lucius,  and  Shuter  *  entirely  recovered  his  credit.' 
The  play  itself,  which  had  formerly  been  '  a  full  hour 
longer  in  the  representation  than  any  piece  on  the 
stage,'  was  now  compressed  ^within  a  reasonable 
compass,'  and  Sheridan  'very  judiciously  removed 
everything  that  could  give  offence  in  the  character  of 
Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger.'  Contemporary  evidence  as 
to  both  the  extent  and  the  effectiveness  of  the  re- 
vision is  abundant  and  conclusive.  Equally  successful 
were  the  performances  of  the  revised  comedy  at 
Bath  in  March,  and  at  Southampton  and  Bristol 
later  in  the  year.  Henceforth,  The  Rivals  was  firmly 
entrenched  in  popular  favour. 

In  the  'Prologue  spoken  on  the  tenth  night,' 
Sheridan  could  now  point  boldly  to  the  figure  of 
comedy,  and  challenge  moralizing  sentimental  drama- 
tists with  these  questions : 

Look  on  her  well  —  does  she  seem  formed  to  teach  ? 
Shou'd  you  expect  to  hear  this  lady  —  preach  ? 

Must  we  displace  her  ?    And  instead  advance 
The  Goddess  of  the  woeful  countenance  — 
The  sentimental  Muse ! 

In  the  play  itself,  the  heroine  of  sentimental  comedy  is 
satirized  in  the  person  of  Lydia  Languish,  who  is 
ready  to  'die  with  disappointment'  when  'the 
prettiest  distress  imaginable'  and  the  prospect  of  'one 
of  the  most  sentimental  elopements '  seem  about  to 
fade  into  the  common  light  of  conventional  matri- 
mony. Fond  visions  of  'so  becoming  a  disguise  !  —  so 
amiable  a  ladder  of  Ropes  !  —  Conscious  Moon  —  four 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  295 

horses  —  Scotch  parson  —  with  such  surprise  to  Mrs. 
Malaprop  —  and  such  paragraphs  in  the  News-papers' 
are  prosaically  shattered  by  her  'Aunt's  consent  and 
approbation.'  The  Mear  delicious  shifts'  to  gain  a 
moment's  interview  with  her  lover  are  now  only  a 
memory.  'How  often  have  I  stole  forth,  in  the 
coldest  night  in  January,  and  found  him  in  the 
garden,  stuck  like  a  dripping  statue  !  —  There  would 
he  kneel  to  me  in  the  snow,  and  sneeze  and  cough  so 
pathetically !  he  shivering  with  cold,  and  I  with 
apprehension  !  and  while  the  freezing  blast  numb 'dour 
joints,  how  warmly  would  he  press  me  to  pity  his 
flame,  and  glow  with  mutual  ardour  !  —  Ah,  Julia ! 
that  was  something  like  being  in  love ! '  In  one 
respect,  indeed,  Lydia  differs  from  her  languishing 
sisters  of  sentimental  comedy,  for  she  prefers  a  half- 
pay  Ensign  to  a  Captain  with  a  comfortable  fortune. 
'The  tears  of  sensibility'  had  been  wont  to  dry  with 
alacrity  when  virtue  found  that  it  need  not  be  content 
with  its  own  reward.  In  the  scene  of  Lydia's  opening 
conversation  with  her  maid,  Lucy,  Sheridan  broadens 
his  satire  of  sentimentality  with  playful  hits  at  the 
sentimental  novels  of  the  circulating  library.  Lydia  \ 
Languish  is,  in  fact,  more  than  a  whimsical  exaggera- 
tion of  the  heroine  of  sentimental  comedy.  She  is, 
as  Mrs.  Malaprop  might  say,  'the  very  pine-apple' 
of  sentimentality. 

Yet,  like  Goldsmith,  Sheridan  could  not  at  once  rid  <^ 
himself  wholly  of  the  contagion  of  the  sentimentality 
which  he  attacked.     Consciously,  or  not,  he  allowed 
the   Julia-Faulkland   underplot   to   retain   in    some 
measure  the  conventional  phrasing  of  sentimental 


296  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

drama.  Though  Faulkland  is  a  'humour^  character, 
in  whom  jealousy  is  carried  to  comic  exaggeration, 
some  of  his  and  of  JuHa's  speeches  seem  rather  an 
imconscious  echo  of  sentimental  diction  than  raillery 
at  its  extravagance.  JuUa's  speech  which  concludes 
the  play  may  serve  for  a  single  illustration:  ^ While 
Hope  pictures  to  us  a  flattering  scene  of  future  Bliss, 
let  us  deny  its  pencil  those  colours  which  are  too 
bright  to  be  lasting.  —  When  Hearts  deserving  Happi- 
ness would  unite  their  fortunes,  Virtue  would  crown 
them  with  an  unfading  garland  of  modest,  hurtless 
flowers ;  but  ill-judging  Passion  will  force  the  gaudier 
Rose  into  the  wreath,  whose  thorn  offends  them,  when 
its  Leaves  are  dropt ! '  This  sentimental  strain  no 
doubt  largely  explains  favourable  comments,  even  in 
the  midst  of  general  strictures  upon  the  first  perr 
formance  of  the  play,  such  as  the  following:  'The 
character  of  Faulkland  is  touched  with  a  delicate  and 
masterly  hand,'  and  'Faulkland,  in  most  respects,  a 
new,  and  a  very  good  character.  .  .  .  JuHa  (con- 
sidered in  the  line  of  elegant  and  sentimental  Comedy) 
is  an  honour  to  the  drama.'  ^  The  Morning  Chronicle 
of  18  January  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  'the  charac- 
ters of  Falkland  and  Julia  are  even  beyond  the 
pitch  of  sentimental  comedy,  and  may  be  not  improp- 
erly stiled  metaphysical,''  and  to  compare  'the  roman- 
tic vein  of  Lydia  Languish^  with  that  of  Steele's  Biddy 
Tipkin,  to  the  disadvantage  of  Sheridan.  Such 
discordant  criticisms  have  at  least  this  in  common, 
that  they  recognize  in  the  underplot  of  The  Rivals 

^  Communication  signed  'Impartialist,'  in  The  Morning  Postf  20 
January,  1775. 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  297 

some  suggestion  of  the  sentimental  comedy  against 
which  Sheridan  was,  in  the  main,  in  revolt.  *^^ 

The  concessions  to  sentimentality  which,  in  Sheri-  C 
dan's  day,  furthered  the  success  of  The  Rivals,  h^Lve 
now  largely  lost  their  appeal.  Mr.  Joseph  Jefferson's 
acting  version  entirely  omitted  the  part  of  Julia, 
retaining  Faulkland  only  for  the  sake  of  his  effective 
scene  with  Bob  Acres.^  The  ease  with  which  Mr. 
Jefferson  excised  most  of  the  underplot  suggests, 
in  fact,  some  structural  weakness  in  the  play.  Yet 
neither  occasional  traces  of  sentimental  diction 
nor  minor  flaws  in  dramatic  structure  have  seriously 
endangered  the  enduring  vitality  of  The  Rivals. 
The  main  action  is  developed  through  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  effective  stage  situations.  The  quarrel 
scene  between  Sir  Anthony  Absolute  and  his  son, 
the  scenes  of  Mrs.  Malaprop,  and  the  duel  would,  in 
themselves,  command  interest,  but  their  effectiveness 
is  enhanced  by  their  position  as  vital  links  in  the 
chain  of  dramatic  action.  Like  Goldsmith,  Sheridan 
prefers '  expectation'  to  *  surprise '  as  a  dramatic  motive. 
At  the  outset  Fag  explains  that  Captain  Absolute 
and  Ensign  Beverley  'are  one  and  the  same  person.' 
In  the  postulates  of  plot  Sheridan  seems  more  natural 
than  Goldsmith.  His  use  of  'mistaken  identity'  and 
'cross  purposes'  results  in  a  comedy  of  errors  more 
plausible  than  Goldsmith's  mistakes  of  a  night. 

If  there  are  farcical  suggestions  in  The  Rivals  they<!, 
arise   rather   from   character  than  from  plot.     The 
very  names  of  the  dramatis  personce  suggest  their 

*  For  a  full  account  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  version,  see  the  present 
writer's  Major  Dramas  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan^  pp.  323-325. 


298  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

kinship  with  'humour  comedy.'  The  accentuation 
of  individual  traits  of  character  is,  however,  not 
confined  to  names  like  Languish,  Malaprop,  O'Trigger, 
Absolute,  Acres,  Fag.  Faulkland's  'humour'  is  un- 
reasonable jealousy,  as  clearly  as  that  of  Sir  Lucius 
O'Trigger  is  love  of  fighting.  Furthermore,  The 
Rivals  introduces  two  highly  developed  artificial 
humours  in  the  ^oath  referential,  or  sentimental  swear- 
ing' of  Bob  Acres,  and  in  Mrs.  Malaprop's  'nice 
derangement  of  epitaphs.'  Like  Dickens,  Sheridan 
often  outlines  character  with  broad  strokes  that 
suggest  caricature.  Yet  it  should  be  remembered 
that  it  is  easier  to  justify  exaggeration  in  the  dramatist 
than  in  the  novelist,  and  that  Shakespeare  bestowed 
upon  Mrs.  Quickly  abnormal  perversity  in  the  use 
of  her  'oracular'  tongue.  Whatever  aspersions  may 
be  cast  upon  her  'parts  of  speech,'  Mrs.  Malaprop 
remains,  among  a  host  of  dramatic  predecessors 
and  imitators,  the  unrivalled  'queen  of  the  dictionary.' 
Doubtless  Sheridan  lacks  subtlety  in  the  analysis  of 
character,  but  he  has  an  exceptional  sense  of  theatrical 
effectiveness.  The  courage  of  Bob  Acres  dwindles  to 
the  actual  vanishing  point  when  he  feels  his  valour 
'oozing  out  as  it  were  at  the  palms  of  his  hands,' 
but  the  very  exaggeration  of  cowardice  enhances 
the  acting  possibilities  of  the  duel  scene.  The 
'passion'  of  Sir  Anthony  Absolute  mounts  to  sheer 
hyperbole,  but  heightens  the  dramatic  climax  of  the 
quarrel  scene  with  his  son.  If  there  are  suggestions 
of  farcical  exaggeration  and  unrestraint  in  Sheridan's 
delineation  of  character,  he  has,  at  least,  extraordinary 
mastery  of  effective  dramatic  art. 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  299 

In  dialogue^  as  in  character  portrayal,  Sheridan  has  < 
the  same  briUiant  artificiality.  He  sacrifices  natural- 
ness^wTthe^ttar  of  wit.  Unlike  honest  Diggory,  Fag 
and"  David  vie  iiT  wit  with  their  masters.  Pope's 
question  — '  Tell  me  if  Congreve's  fools  are  fools 
indeed?'  —  might  be  applied  to  Sheridan.  Lucy's 
cleverness  outwits  Mrs.  Malaprop,  and  her  arch 
coquetry  captivates  Sir  Lucius.  Even  the  sentimen- 
tal excrescences  of  the  underplot  do  not  long  inter- 
rupt the  brilliant  vivacity  of  Sheridan's  dialogue. 
The  Rivals  is  the  initial  work  of  a  dramatist  of  twenty- 
three.  If  it  fails  to  hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature, 
it  has,  none  the  less,  splendid  audacity  and  fertility 
of  dramatic  invention  and  wit.  It  remains  a  triumph 
of  artificial  comedy. 

On  2  May,  1775,  Sheridan's  brief  farce,  SLRatrick's 
Da^j  or  The  Scheming  Lieutenant,  was  produced  at 
Covent  Garden.  It  was  written  for  the  benefit  of 
CUnch,  the  actor  whose  substitution  for  Lee  in  the 
part  of  Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger  had  contributed  much 
toward  the  ultimate  success  of  The  Rivals.  The 
farce  seems  somewhat  reminiscent  of  Moliere,  with 
whose  work  Sheridan  may  have  gained  acquaintance 
through  EngHsh  translations.  The  dialogue  con-^ 
tains  some  sprightly  passages  that  are  charac- 
teristic of  the  author,  but,  for  the  most  part,  Sheridan 
seems  to  have  written  it  with  his  left  hand. 

Far  more  significant  was  the  production,  on  21 
November  of  the  same  year,  of  The  Duenna.     For 
almost  half  a  century  no  opera  had"rivalled~the  initial 
success  of  The  Beggar^ s  Opera.     The  Duenna  surpassed*^ 
the  run  of  Gay's  ballad  opera  by  achieving  seventy- 


300  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

five  performances  before  the  close  of  the  season.  Much 
^  of  its  success  was  due  to  the  music  which  was  largely 
composed  by  Sheridan's  father-in-law,  Linley.  Sheri- 
dan also  availed  himself  of  the  work  of  other  musicians 
like  Jackson  and  Harrington  —  a  method  of  '  com- 
piHng'  opera  of  which  Linley  openly  expressed  his 
disapproval.  Despite  his  lack  of  technical  musical 
skill,  Sheridan  deserves  no  small  share  of  credit  in 
the  lyric  success  of  the  opera.  His  verses  are  usually 
well  adapted  for  singing,  and  many  of  his  lyrics, 
such  as  'Oh,  the  days  when  I  was  young,'  and  'Had  I 
a  heart  for  falsehood  framed,'  long  remained  popular. 
Interspersed  with  pretty,  if  somewhat  conventional, 
love  songs  and  serenades  are  some  snatches  of  rather 
rollicking  and  whimsical  humour,  as  in  some  of 
the  verses  given  to  Don  Jerome  and  Isaac,  and  in  the 
opening  trio  which  seems  almost  a  parody  of  the 
heroics  of  grand  opera. 

Though  it  is  unfair  to  judge  the  libretto  of  an 
opera  by  the  standards  of  ordinary  drama,  The 
u  Duenna  is  not  without  dramatic  merits.  The  plot 
has  a  distinct  basis  of  action  and  progresses  to  an 
effective  solution.  Some  of  the  scenes,  like  those  of 
Isaac's  wooing  of  the  Duenna,  and  his  report  to 
Louisa's  father  of  his  extraordinary  success  in  court- 
ship, are  well  conceived.  Moore  declared  that  the 
*  intrigue'  was  founded  upon  an  incident  in  Wych- 
erley's  Country  Wife,  and  Sheridan,  despite  his 
assertion  that  he  had  never  read  a  line  of  Wycherley, 
could  hardly  have  been  ignorant  of  Garrick's  popular 
adaptation  of  the  play  as  The  Country  Girl.  Yet, 
in  general,  his  use  of  disguise,  mistaken  identity, 


xvin  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 


301 


and  cross  purposes,  betrays  chiefly  his  general  famil- 
iarity with  stage  traditions.  The  characters  of 
The  Duenna  seem  unfinished  in  comparison  with  those 
of  The  Rivals.  Don  Jerome,  the  stern  and  then 
relenting  father,  is  but  a  shadow  of  Sir  Anthony, 
and  the  jealous  Ferdinand  of  Faulkland.  Louisa 
and  Clara  are  not  clearly  differentiated,  but  Isaac 
is  a  more  finished  portrait.  The  dialogue,  though 
without  sustained  brilliancy,  is  at  times  enHvened  with 
characteristic  flashes  of  Sheridan's  wit.  In  compar- 
ison with  the  comedies,  The  Duenna  seems  mediocre, 
but  its  libretto  has  a  coherence  of  plot  and  a  general 
dramatic  consistency  in  lyric  and  dialogue  unusual 
in  light  opera.  As^a  rough  illustration,  it  may  be 
said  to  bear  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  most  of 
the  operas  of  its  day  as  that  of  the  Gilbert  and  Sulli- 
van operas  to  the  general  run  of  contemporary  musical 
comedies. 

In  1776  Sheridan  succeeded  David  Garrick  as 
manager  of  Brury  Lane  Theatre.  Not  until  24 
February,  1777,  however,  were  general  expectations 
of  a  new  play  from  the  playwright-manager  even  par- 
tially realized  in  his  adaptation  of  Vanbrugh's  Relapse 
as  A^Tri^ Jo  Scarborough.    The  attempt 

to  draw  some  slender  covering  o'er 
That  graceless  wit  which  was  too  bare  before 

in  a  Restoration  comedy  that   Jeremy  Collier  had 
selected  for  specific  attack  was  hazardous.     Yet,  if<^ 
Sheridan  unfortunately  cut  away  some  sound  tissue 
of  comedy,  together  with  its  worst  impurities,  many 
of  his  excisions  are  effective.     In  various  mechanical 


302  ENGLISH  DRAMA  CHAP. 

details,  such  as  the  condensation  of  the  fifth  act  and 
the  substitution  of  eighteenth-century  'local  colour' 
for  that  of  the  Restoration  period,  his  alterations 
may  have  proved  effective,  but  he  sacrificed  something 
of  the  spirit  and  vivacity  of  the  original.  In  The 
Critic  he  put  into  the  mouth  of  Dangle,  a  playful 
hit  that  seems  directed  at  his  own  effort  to  expurgate 
Restoration  comedy,  — '  Now,  egad,  I  think  the  worst 
alteration  is  in  the  nicety  of  the  audience !  —  No 
double  entendre,  no  smart  innuendo  admitted ;  even 
Vanbrugh  and  Congreve  obliged  to  undergo  a  bun- 
gling reformation  ! '  1  Sheridan's  adaptations  from  Kot- 
zebue.  The  Stranger  (1798)  and  Pizarro  (1799),  belong 
to  a  later  period  that  exceeds  the  limits  of  the  present 
discussion,  but,  like  A  Trip  to  Scarborough,  they  give 
proofs  of  his  practical  sense  of  theatrical  effective- 
ness without  enhancing  his  reputation  as  an  original 
dramatist.  ; 

C  On  8  May,  1777,  Sheridan  triumphantly  met  the 
popular  demand  for  original  comedy  with  JJieS^Jwol 
for  Scandal.  During  the  brief  balance  of  the  season 
it  had  a  score  of  performances,  and  it  was  produced 
sixty-five  times  during   the   next   year.     It  was   a 

C  triumph  of  acting  as  well  as  of  dramatic  art.  Even 
Horace  Walpole,^  in  a  letter  of  July  13,  was  com- 
pelled to  unusual  superlatives  :  ^  'To  my  great  astonish-  ^4 
ment  there  were  more  parts  performed  admirably  | 
in  The  School  for  Scandal  than  I  almost  ever  saw  in  any 
play.  ...  It  seemed  a  marvellous  resurrection  of 
the  stage.  Indeed,  the  play  had  as  much  merits  as 
the  actors.  I  have  seen  no  comedy  that  comes  near 
*  Letters  of  Eorace  Walpole,  Toynbee  edition,  X,  82. 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 


303 


it  since  The  Provoked  Husband.^  Two  seasons  later 
the  treasurer  of  Drury  Lane  recorded  the  fact  that 
the  'School  for  Scandal  damped  the  new  pieces.' 

The  dramatic  construction  of  Sheridan's  comedy 
at  once  attracted  favourable  comment.  On  the  day 
following  its  first  production,  the  critic  of  The  Public 
Advertiser  (9  May)  declared:  'The  Situations  are 
so  powerfully  conceived,  that  little  is  left  for  the 
Performers  to  do,  in  Order  to  produce  what  is  called 
Stage  Effect;  and  the  Circumstance  of  the  Screen 
and  Closet  in  the  fourth  Effect,  produced  a  Burst  of 
Applause  beyond  any  Thing  ever  heard  perhaps  in  a 
Theatre.'  To  the  same  effect  ran  the  review  in 
The  London  Chronicle,  8-10  May :  'The  fable  is  well 
conducted  and  the  incidents  are  managed  with  great 
judgment.  There  hardly  ever  was  a  better  dramatic 
situation  than  that  which  occurs  in  the  fourth  act, 
where  Sir  Peter  discovers  Lady  Teazle  in  Joseph 
Surface's  study.'  The  test  of  time  has  fully  confirmed 
the  unqualified  praise  thus  bestowed  on  the  'screen 
scene.'  It  remains  not  merely  the  most  notable 
scene  in  the  English  comedy  of  manners,  but  one  of 
the  masterpieces  of  English  dramatic  art.  ^  Only  less 
noteworthy  are  the  'picture  scene'  in  the  house  of 
Charles  Surface,  the  scandal  scenes,  and  the  conver- 
sations between  Sir  Peter  and  Lady  Teazle.  Though 
more  dependent  upon  the  wit  of  the  dialogue,  they 
brilliantly  illustrate  Sheridan's  dramatic  skill.  Ob- 
jection has  sometimes  been  made  to  the  scandal 
scenes  on  the  ground  that  the  dialogue  does  not  always 
directly  advance  the  action.  Yet,  apart  from  their 
brilliancy,  they  may  find  justification  in  furnishing 


304  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

the  necessary  background  and  environment  for 
Lady  Teazle.  The  not  infrequent  modern  rearrange- 
ment which  groups  in  the  opening  act  several  of  the 
scattered  scandal  scenes  may  be  a  theatrical  con- 
venience, but  it  is  questionable  whether  it  does  not 
somewhat  retard  the  exposition  of  plot  and  impair  the 
continuity  of  background  suggested  in  the  original 
version. 

Like  The  Rivals,  The  School  for  Scandal  seems  to 
have  been  a  natural  outgrowth  of  Sheridan's  ex- 
perience of  fashionable  society  at  Bath.  The  first 
rough  sketch  was  headed,  the  slanderers.  —  A 
Pump  Room  Scene.  The  details  of  its  evolution 
into  finished  comedy,  fully  supplied  in  Moore's  Life  of 
Sheridan,  give  ample  evidence  of  Sheridan's  pains- 
taking. Two  plots  were  gradually  welded  together  — 
one  deaHng  with  the  scandal  group,  the  other  with  a 
young  country  wife  involved  in  matrimonial  difii- 
culties  with  an  old  husband.  The  process  of  revision 
was  elaborate,  not  merely  in  the  consolidation  of  plots, 
and  in  the  refinement  of  dialogue,  but  even  in  the 
details  of  nomenclature  of  the  characters.  Just  as 
the  scene  itself  was  shifted  ultimately  from  the 
miniature  world  of  fashion  at  Bath  to  the  larger  world 
of  London  society,  Solomon  Teazle  and  his  wife  were 
not  suffered  to  remain  bourgeois,  but  were  invested 
with  the  dignity  of  rank.  The  youthful  hero  had 
half-a-dozen  tentative  names  before  he  became 
Charles  Surface.  Even  the  minor  characters  were 
not  overlooked  —  Spunge  became  Trip,  and  Spatter 
finally  became  Snake. 

Thehistorjf  of   Sheridan's  constant  revisions  of 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  305 

his  text  effectually  proves  that  The  School  for  Scandal 
was  not  the  product  of  genius  that  never  blotted  a 
line.  Careless  and  indifferent  in  many  ways  Sheridan 
was  undeniably.  He  could  not  be  brought  to  superin- 
tend the  preparation  of  the  text  of  The  School  for 
Scandal  for  publication.  Yet  the  traditional  anec- 
dotes that  have  encouraged  the  popular  impression 
that  he  struck  off  his  pieces  at  white  heat  under  forced 
draught  are  misleading.  Much  of  the  dialogue  of 
The  School  for  Scandal  shows  careful  construction. 
The  brilHant  passages  at  arms  between  Lady  Teazle 
and  Sir  Peter  furnish  a  number  of  climaxes  attained 
only  by  a  clever  manipulation  of  phrase  throughout 
considerable  preliminary  dialogue.  Such,  for  example, 
is  the  passage  which  culminates  in  Lady  Teazle's 
*For  my  part,  I  should  think  you  would  like  to  have 
your  wife  thought  a  woman  of  Taste,'  and  Sir  Peter's 
unhappy  rejoinder,  *  Aye  —  there  again  —  Taste  ! 
Zounds  !  Madam,  you  had  no  Taste  when  you  married 
me  ! '  Incessant  brilliancy  of  phrase  is,  indeed,  at 
once  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of  Sheridan's 
dialogue.  Trip  is  invested  with  his  master's  wit  as 
readily  as  with  his  master's  wardrobe.  There  are 
no  dullards  among  the  scandal-mongers.  Relieved 
of  the  modern  'gags'  which  have  been  imposed  upon 
him,  even  Moses  has  a  pretty  wit  of  his  own  that  raises 
money-lending  to  a  fine  art.  Rowley,  the  honest 
steward,  quotes  Shakespeare,  and,  after  the  exposure 
of  Joseph  Surface,  vies  with  Sir  Oliver  in  taunting 
Sir  Peter,  after  the  fashion  of  Gratiano,  with  his  own 
phrases.  Perhaps  only  the  flitting  figure  of  Maria 
seems  out  of  piace  in  this  brilliant  setting. 

X 


3o6  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

The  School  for  Scandal  marks  the  height  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  comedy  of  manners.  It  is  the  ar- 
tificial comedy  of  the  Restoration  purged  of  indecency, 
but  undiminished  in  lustre.  The  ceaseless  sparkle 
of  its  dialogue  inevitably  recalls  Congreve.  Investi- 
gation of  the  sources  of  its  plot  has  resulted  in  es- 
tabUshing  its  general  kinship  with  the  comedies  of 
Congreve  and  Wycherley,  and,  especially  in  the  case 
of  the  scandal  scenes,  some  specific  instances  of  direct 
indebtedness.  Even  the  Lady  Teazle-Sir  Peter 
plot,  which  has  perhaps  been  somewhat  slighted 
in  the  zealous  pursuit  of  the  ancestry  of  the  Surface 
brothers,  is  anticipated  in  the  situation  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Pinchwife  in  Wycherley's  Country  Wife.  Ladyi 
Teazle  and  Mrs.  Pinchwife  are  both  moths  attracted 
by  the  flame  of  temptation,  but  Lady  Teazle  is  not 
seared  by  the  fire  that  ruthlessly  consumes  her 
Restoration  prototype.  Like  the  comic  dramatists 
of  the  Restoration,  Sheridan  was  indebted  to  Moliere, 
but,  unlike  them,  he  touched  the  comedy  of  intrigue 
with  Gallic  esprit  undefiled  by  impurity.  One  of 
the  phrases  which  Sheridan  applied  to  Mrs.  Crewe 
in  the  verses  of  The  Portrait  which  he  addressed  to 
her  in  connection  with  The  School  for  Scandal  may 
well  be  taken  to  characterize  the  spirit  of  his  own 
comedy — 'Not  stiff  with  prudence  nor  uncouthly 
wild.' 

The  School  for  Scandal  is  not  merely  the  redemption 
of  the  artificial  comedy  of  the  Restoration  from  its 
grossness,  but  the  triumph  of  the  comedy  of  manners 
over  sentimental  comedy.  Nevertheless,  like  The 
Rivals,  it  shows  some  lapses  into  the  diction  of  sent!* 


xvm  RICHARD   BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN"  307 

mental  drama.  In  his  last  speech,  Charles  Surface 
turns  to  Maria  with  these  words :  '  But  here  shall  be 
my  Monitor  —  my  gentle  Guide.  —  ah  !  can  I  leave 
the  Virtuous  path  those  Eyes  illumine?'  As  in  the 
final  words  of  Julia  in  The  Rivals,  Sheridan  makes  a 
somewhat  lame  and  impotent  conclusion.  Yet  the 
real  spirit  of  his  comedies  is  not  to  be  sought  in  chance 
scene- tags.  When,  in  the  words  of  the  Prologue, 
'Again  our  young  Don  Quixote  takes  the  road,'  and 
'seeks  his  hydra,  Scandal,  in  his  den,'  Sheridan  is 
armed  in  the  true  spirit  of  comedy  to  attack  the  faults  ' 
and  folhes  of  society.  Furthermore,  the  sententious 
moralizing  of  'weeping  sentimental  comedy'  is  held 
up  to  ridicule  in  the  person  of  the  hypocrite,  Joseph 
Surface.  'Joseph  is  indeed  a  model  for  the  young 
men  of  the  Age  —  He  is  a  man  of  Sentiment  —  and 
acts  up  to  the  Sentiments  he  professes.'  He  is  so 
habituated  to  the  false  gallop  of  sentiment  that  he 
gives  sentiment  free  rein  even  when  it  is  unnecessary. 
'O  Lud,'  interrupts  Lady  Sneerwell,  'you  are  going  to 
be  moral,  and  forget  that  you  are  among  Friends.' 
The  exposure  of  his  hypocrisy  is  anticipated  by  Sir 
Peter's  iteration  of  the  phrase,  'He  is  a  man  of  Senti- 
ment —  Well !  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  noble 
as  a  man  of  Sentiment,'  and  is  emphasized  by 
its  taunting  reecho  when  Sir  Peter  is  confronted 
with  the  evidence  of  his  mistaken  judgment.  And 
when  Joseph  Surface  finally  disappears  in  the  last 
act,  he  is  still  'moral  to  the  last  drop.'  With  him, 
moralizing  sentiment  retires  baffled  and  discoun- 
tenanced. -\j 
Sheridan's  attacks  on  sentimental  drama  culminate 


3o8  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

in  The  Critic,  or  A  Tragedy  Rehearsed.  Produced  at 
Drury  Lane,  30  October,  1779,  as  an  afterpiece  to 
Hamlet,  it  'fully  gratified,'  according  to  The  Public 
Advertiser  of  i  November,  *the  Expectation  of  the 
Public,  which  had  presaged  every  Excellence  from 
the  Pen  of  their  favourite  Author.'  This  review  of  the 
first  performance  further  remarks:  'The  two  leading 
Objects  of  this  witty  Stage  Satire  appear  to  be  these  — 
First,  to  expose  the  mock  Conmients  of  News-paper 
and  other  minor  Critics;  and  next,  to  ridicule  the 
false  Taste  and  brilHant  Follies  of  modern  dramatic 
Composition.'  Sheridan's  satire  sweeps  freely  over 
the  whole  range  of  absurdities  in  drama  and  theatrical 
production.  The  very  breadth  and  universaUty  of  its 
ridicule  has  given  it  enduring  vitality.  Burlesque  is 
essentially  ephemeral.  The  success  of  parody  is 
dependent  upon  familiarity  with  the  objects  of  its 
attack.  Many  of  Sheridan's  specific  hits  that  were 
palpable  to  the  audience  of  his  day  pass  to-day  un- 
heeded. Yet,  in  adapting  to  his  own  purpose  the 
general  framework  of  The  Rehearsal,  he  was  less  de- 
pendent upon  local  allusion  and  definite  parody  than 
were  Buckingham  and  his  associates 

In  those  gay  days  of  wickedness  and  wit, 
When  Villiers  criticiz'd  what  Dryden  writ.* 

Arber's  reprint  of  The  Rehearsal,  with  the  key  to  the 
passages  of  contemporary  drama  burlesqued,  is  con- 
clusive testimony  to  the  extent  and  elaborateness 
of  specific  parody.  But  The  Critic,  despite  some  pas- 
sages that  seem  definitely  directed  against  the  trage- 

*  Richard  Fitzpatrick's  Prologue  to  The  Critic. 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  309 

dies  of  John  Home/  bends  its  chief  energies  to  expos- 
ing general  absurdities  in  the  drama.  To  this  effect 
runs  the  review  in  The  Public  Advertiser:  'The  tedious 
and  unartificial  Commencements  of  modern  Tragedies, 
the  inflated  Diction,  the  figurative  Tautology,  the 
Feu  de  Theatre  of  Embraces  and  Groans,  Vows  and 
Prayers,  florid  Pathos,  whining  Heroism,  and,  above 
all,  the  Trick  of  Stage  Situation,  are  ridiculed  with  a 
Burlesque  which  perhaps  may  be  thought  rather  too 
refined  for  the  Multitude,  but  certainly  is  perfect  in 
its  Stile.'  The  fear  that  The  Critic  might  prove 
caviare  to  the  general  was  not  realized.  The  perfec- 
tion of  its  style  and  the  breadth  of  its  satire  have  not 
been  obscured  even  by  some  admixture  of  elements 
as  ephemeral  as  local  allusion  and  parody. 

From  the  outset.  The  Critic  satirizes  sentimental 
drama.  Especially  significant  is  the  following  pas- 
sage in  the  opening  scene : 

Dangle  {reading).  Bursts  into  tears  and  exit. — ^What,  is  this  a 
tragedy ! 

Sneer.  No,  that's  a  genteel  comedy,  not  a  translation  —  only 
taken  from  the  French;  it  is  written  in  a  stile  which  they 
have  lately  tried  to  run  down ;  the  true  sentimental,  and 
nothing  ridiculous  in  it  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

Mrs.  Dangle.  Well,  if  they  had  kept  to  that,  I  should  not  have 
been  such  an  enemy  to  the  stage ;  there  was  some  edifica- 
tion to  be  got  from  those  pieces,  Mr.  Sneer  ! 

Sneer.  I  am  quite  of  your  opinion,  Mrs.  Dangle ;  the  theatre, 
in  proper  hands,  might  certainly  be  made  the  school  of 
morality ;  but  now,  I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  people  seem  to 
go  there  principally  for  their  entertainment ! 

*  The  Monthly  Review,  October,  1781,  in  reviewing  the  first  printed 
edition  of  The  Critic  objects  that  its  author  has  *  levelled  some  of  his 
severest  traits  against  the  very  best  modern  tragedy  in  our  language, 
we  mean  the  tragedy  of  Douglas  1' 


3IO  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

Though  Sheridan  is  primarily  attacking  sentimental 
drama  in  general,  he  seems  to  direct  a  particular 
thrust  at  Hugh  Kelly.  Sneer's  words  are  but  a  mock- 
ing echo  of  the  creed  declared  by  Kelly,  in  the  last  act 
of  False  Delicacy  —  '  The  stage  should  be  a  school  of 
morality.'  Among  the  sentimental  dramatists,  how- 
ever, Sheridan  found  an  even  more  vulnerable  target 
in  Sir  Richard  Cumberland.  In  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary 
he  drew  to  the  life  the  portrait  of  the  playwright  whom 
Garrick  termed  a  'man  without  a  skin.'  The  Memoirs 
of  Richard  Cumberland  written  by  himself  is  an  un- 
conscious revelation  of  the  inordinate  jealousy,  self- 
esteem,  and  supersensitiveness  of  its  author.  Even 
Watkins,  Sheridan's  unsympathetic  biographer,  who 
volubly  defended  '  the  moral  excellence  of  the  dramas 
of  Cumberland,'  reluctantly  confessed^  that  'the 
character  of  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  must  be  admitted  to 
have  exhibited  a  striking  sketch,  in  many  respects, 
of  a  dramatic  writer,  whose  nervous  sensibility  often 
made  him  ridiculous.'  Yet,  like  a  genuine  artist, 
Sheridan  not  merely  reproduced  an  individual  Hke- 
ness,  but  created  a  masterpiece  of  portraiture.  Had 
Sir  Fretful  been  merely  a  personal  caricature,  he  could 
hardly  have  outHved  Cumberland. 

Though  The  Critic  was  written  only  as  an  after- 
piece, it  holds  its  own,  in  some  respects,  with  Sheridan's 
comedies.  It  is  the  triumph  of  sheer  wit  over  the 
usual  transitoriness  of  burlesque.  In  brilliancy  of 
dialogue  it  vies  with  The  School  for  Scandal.  Through- 
out the  first  act,  save  possibly  in  the  brief  interruption 
of  the  Italians  and  their  interpreter,  action  is  wholly 
1  Memoirs  of  Sheridan,  I,  237. 


xvm  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN  311 

subordinated  to  conversation.  Even  the  bustle  of  the 
ItaHan  episode  is  chiefly  effective  as  a  provocative  to 
Bangle's  admirable  retorts,  while  Puff's  description 
of  the  various  sorts  of  'puffing'  is  a  verbal  tour  deforce. 
In  the  two  acts  devoted  to  the  rehearsal  of  Puff's 
tragedy,  the  action  of  the  burlesque  yields  constantly 
to  Puff's  illuminating  explanations  to  his  interlocu- 
tors. Many  even  of  the  chance  phases  of  The  Critic 
have  become  proverbial,  such  as  Sneer's  'No  scandal 
about  Queen  Elizabeth,  I  hope,'  and  Puff's  'Where 
they  do  agree  on  the  stage^  their  unanimity  is  wonder- 
ful!' In  The  Critical  Review,  November,  1781,  a 
reviewer  who  did  not  hesitate  to  condemn  the  'wan- 
toness  of  wit'  in  The  Critic,  declared:  'There  is,  in- 
deed, more  true  wit  and  humour  crouded  into  this 
little  performance,  than  has,  perhaps,  appeared  since 
the  days  of  Wycherley  and  Congreve.'  Age  has 
somewhat  withered  the  local  hits  in  The  Critic,  but 
custom  has  not  staled  its  infinite  wit  and  felicity  of 
phrase. 

The  extraordinary  brilliancy  of  The  Critic  has  often 
raised  questions  as  to  its  genuine  originality.  The 
general  framework,  already  tentatively  tested  in  Sheri- 
dan's early  burlesque,  Jupiter,  is  taken  from  The  Re- 
hearsal. Bayes  and  his  companions,  Johnson  and 
Smith,  are  the  rough  models  for  Puff  and  his  asso- 
ciates. Sneer  and  Dangle.  A  few  verbal  parallels  in 
The  Rehearsal  and  in  various  farces  of  Fielding  and 
Foote,  and  a  passage  in  Churchill's  Rosciad  show  that 
Sheridan  did  not  hesitate  to  appropriate  to  his  own 
purposes  some  specific  hints  from  earlier  writers.  It 
is  unnecessary,  however,  to  defend  him  by  pervert- 


312  ENGLISH  DRAMA  chap. 

ing  Sir  Fretful's  remark  that  'a  dexterous  plagiarist 
may  do  anything/  If  the  'pruning-knife/  or  in  Puff's 
emendation  the  *axe/  of  criticism  were  applied  to  all 
the  foreign  graftings  on  the  native  stock  of  The  Critic 
its  vitality  would  not  be  endangered. 
f  The  Critic  marks  practically  the  conclusion  of  Sh'^ri- 
dan's  original  dramatic  work.  At  twenty-eight  he 
was  not  merely  arbiter  of  Drury  Lane,  but  the  fore- 
most of  living  EngHsh  dramatists.  Like  Congreve 
who,  at  thirty,  practically  bade  farewell  to  comedy, 
Sheridan  early  abandoned  the  career  of  active  play- 
wright. During  the  long  years  of  his  pubhc  service 
his  interest  was  in  politics.  His  treasure  lay  in  Drury 
Lane,  but  his  heart  was  in  Parliament.  |  His  occa- 
sional later  efforts  as  a  playwright  are  aHaptations 
rather  than  original  dramatic  works.  Pizarro  (1799), 
based  on  Kotzebue's  Spaniards  in  Peru,  and  embel- 
lished with  touches  borrowed  from  his  own  oratory, 
was  a  financial,  not  a  literary,  triumph.  In  diction 
and  melodramatic  machinery,  it  is  open  to  some  of  the 
very  attacks  directed  at  Puff's  tragedy.  The  lapse 
of  twenty  years  since  The  Critic  had  brought  no  deeper 
maturity  of  dramatic  conception.  Sheridan's  powers 
developed  early.  A  dramatic  artist,  not  a  deep  inter- 
preter of  life,  he  brilliantly  touched  the  surface  without 
sounding  the  depths.  There  are  more  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  his  phi- 
losophy. He  was,  indeed,  no  dreamer.  His  eyes 
sought  the  immediate  foreground,  not  the  far  horizon. 
In  the  wood  outside  of  Athens  he  might  have  recog- 
nized Nick  Bottom  and  his  fellows,  while  Oberon  and 
Titania  flitted  past  unheeded.    Sheridan's  world,  in 


XVIII  RICHARD   BRINSLEY   SHERIDAN  313 

reality,  was  Bath  and  London.  Even  Lydia  Lan- 
guish, who  sought  a  sentimental  elopement  to  shock 
society,  would  have  been  a  sorry  exile  in  the  Forest 
of  Arden.  Wit  rather  than  humour,  brilliancy 
rather  than  depth,  satire  rather  than  sympathy,  art 
rather  than  nature,  are  the  characteristics  of  Sheri- 
dan's comedies.  Yet  Beaumarchais  is  not  to  be  mis- 
prized because  he  is  not  Moliere.  Unable  to  follow 
Shakespeare  through  the  ^depths  of  the  'comedie 
humaine,'  Sheridan  wisely  chose,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  comic  dramatists  of  the  Restoration,  to 
pursue  the  easier  path  of  the  comedy  of  manners. 

Judged  merely  by  the  test  of  continued  stage  popu- 
larity, Sheridan  stands  to-day  in  EngHsh  drama  second 
only  to  Shakespeare.  The  professional  verdict  of 
the  modern  stage  is  well  expressed  in  the  words  of 
Sir  Henry  Irving:  'Sheridan  brought  the  comedy  of 
manners  to  the  highest  perfection,  and  The  School 
Jor  Scandal  remains  to  this  day  the  most  popular 
comedy  in  the  English  language.  Some  of  the  char- 
acters both  in  this  play  and  in  The  Rivals  have  be- 
come so  closely  associated  with  our  current  speech 
that  we  may  fairly  regard  them  as  imperishable.  No 
farce  of  our  time  has  so  excellent  a  chance  of  immortal- 
ity as  The  Critic.^  ^  The  history  of  the  development 
of  EngUsh  drama  since  the  reopening  of  the  theatres 
in  1660  reaches  a  significant  cHmax  in  Sheridan.  He 
is  at  once  the  heir  to  the  best  traditions  of  Restoration 
comedy  and  the  most  notable  English  dramatist  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

^  W.  Fraser  Rae,  Life  of  Sheridan ,  II,  322. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES 

These  Bibliographical  Notes  aim  (i)  to  indicate  the  chief 
texts,  documents,  critical  editions,  and  other  works  cited  in 
this  volume,  and  (2)  to  suggest  some  useful  references  for  the 
general  student  of  English  drama.  An  elaborate  bibliography 
for  the  whole  period  of  English  drama  here  considered  would 
far  exceed  the  Kmits  of  this  book.  Fortunately,  the  extensive 
bibliographies  in  various  volumes  of  The  Cambridge  History  of 
English  Literature  meet,  in  large  part,  the  demands  even  of 
special  investigation.  Their  pubHcation,  since  the  inception 
of  the  present  work,  renders  it  unnecessary  to  reproduce  here 
lists  of  the  individual  dramatic  works  of  the  different  play- 
wrights, or  of  the  multitude  of  biographical  and  critical  works 
there  mentioned.  In  the  case  of  eighteenth-century  EngUsh 
drama,  a  word  of  personal  explanation  seems  unavoidable.  My 
bibliography  to  chap.  IV  of  vol.  X  of  The  Cambridge  His- 
tory of  English  Literature  suppUes,  in  addition  to  the  sections 
deaUng  with  individual  playwrights,  a  series  of  chronological 
lists  of  eighteenth-century  collections  of  plays,  of  prologues 
and  epilogues,  and  of  theatrical  histories,  dictionaries,  and 
similar  works  bearing  on  the  period,  together  with  other  general 
material.  '  A  Bibliographical  Note  '  (pp.  cxi-cxvii)  to  The 
Major  Dramas  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan  contains  additional 
data.  Hence  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  omit  here  much 
material  already  presented  elsewhere,  and  to  consider  the  pres- 
ent commentary  as  primarily  suggestive  and  explanatory.  Yet 
it  is  hoped  that  these  notes,  together  with  the  footnotes  in  the 
main  body  of  the  book,  will  sufficiently  indicate  specific  texts 
quoted  and  definite  sources  of  historical  and  critical  material. 
Throughout  this  volume,  quotations,  references,  and  biblio- 
graphical descriptions  are  based  directly  on  the  actual  texts 
cited.  The  more  detailed  '  Notes  to  Separate  Chapters  '  are 
here  preceded  by  some  suggestions  as  to  general  reference 

31S 


3i6  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

works.  For  the  ordinary  reader  it  seems  sufficient  to  show 
the  character  and  utility  of  a  few  representative  works.  Such 
general  hints,  needless  to  say,  are  not  for  the  specialist,  much  of 
whose  material  must  often  evade  the  confines  of  even  the 
most  generous  bibHography.  The  present  Notes  will  fulfil 
their  aim  if  they  give  reasonable  guidance  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses of  reference,  and  indicate,  however  imperfectly,  the  ob- 
ligations here  gratefully  acknowledged  to  many  works  which 
have  proved  of  great  assistance. 

GENERAL  REFERENCE  WORKS 

Bracketed  names  or  titles  in  heavy  capitals  indicate  abbrevia- 
tions for  convenience  of  reference:  e.g.  [GENEST];  [BIOG. 
DRAM.].  In  general  J  the  place  of  publication  ^  if  not  otherwise 
indicated,  is  London. 

The  most  important  statistical  record  of  English  drama 
covering  the  whole  period  of  this  volume  is 

Some  Account  of  the  English  Stage,  from  the  Restoration  in 
1660  to  1830  [by  John  Genest].  10  vols.  Bath,  1832.  [GENEST.] 
This  absolutely  indispensable  reference  work  is  essentially 
a  great  theatrical  diary,  recording  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
dramatic  productions  at  the  chief  London  theatres  from  1660 
to  1830,  supplying  many  synopses  of  plots,  casts  of  characters, 
records  of  important  actors,  and  a  fund  of  general  theatrical 
information,  but  attempting  no  comprehensive  survey  of  the  de- 
velopment of  Enghsh  drama.  Its  incidental  critical  comments 
are  much  less  significant  than  its  usually  reUable  statistics. 

Perhaps  the  most  useful  theatrical  dictionary  covering  the 
whole  period  of  this  volume  is 

Biographia  Dramatica;  or,  A  Companion  to  the  Playhouse. 
.  .  .  Originally  compiled,  to  the  year  1764,  by  David  Erskine 
Baker.  Continued  thence  to  1782,  by  Isaac  Reed,  F.  A.  S. 
And  brought  down  to  the  End  of  November  181 1  ...  by 
Stephen  Jones.  3  vols.  [Vol.  I  in  two  parts,  usually  bound 
separately.]  1812.  [BIOG.  DRAM.]  The  chief  value  of  this 
work  Ues  in  its  '  alphabetical  account  and  chronological  Usts ' 
of  English  dramatists  and  their  works.    The  two  parts  of  vol.  I 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES  317 

deal  with  authors;  vols.  II  and  III,  with  separate  dramatic 
works.  Dates  of  plays  are  those  of  publication,  and  are  less 
reliable  than  Genest's  dates  of  first  productions.  The  chrono- 
logical Hsts  of  works  under  individual  author-headings  are  use- 
ful, but  the  biographical  material  is  usually  inadequate  and 
often  unreHable. 

An  excellent  general  reference  work  for  theatrical  documents  is 

A  Bibliographical  Account  of  English  Theatrical  Literature 
from^  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day,  by  Robert  W.  Lowe. 
1888.  [LOWE.]  This  record,  in  general,  excludes  plays,  unless 
they  include  historical  or  critical  matter,  and  accordingly 
supplements  rather  than  dupUcates  Biog.  Dram.  Full  and 
accurate  citations  of  many  title-pages  and  frequent  cross- 
references  make  this  work  both  reHable  and  convenient  for 
constant  use. 

An  authoritative  detailed  critical  study  of  Restoration  and 
Queen  Anne  drama  is  included  in 

A  History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature  to  the  death  of 
Queen  Anne,  by  Adolphus  William  Ward.  New  and  revised 
edition.  3  vols.  London  and  New  York,  1899.  [WARD.]  For 
discussion  of  English  drama  from  the  closing  of  the  theatres  in 
1642  to  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  in  17 14,  see  especially  vol. 
Ill,  chap.  IX.  An  ample  index  increases  the  usefulness  of 
this  scholarly  standard  work  of  English  dramatic  history. 

A  very  considerable  recent  critical  review  of  Restoration 
drama  is  included  in 

The  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  vol.  VUI  (19x2) , 
chapters  V,  VI,  and  VII,  by  F.  E.  Schelling,  Charles  Whibley, 
and  A.  T.  Bartholomew  respectively.  Cambridge.  [CAMB. 
HIST.]  These  important  chapters  have  valuable  bibUogra- 
phies.  References  in  the  present  work  are  to  the  original  edi- 
tion, not  to  the  New  York  reprint  which  often  difiEers  in  pagi- 
nation. 

An  excellent  and  comprehensive  critical  account  of  Restora- 
tion and  eighteenth-centtuy  tragedy  is  accessible  in 

Tragedy,  by  Ashley  H.  Thorndike.  [In  The  Types  of  English 
Literature,  edited  by  William  Allan  NeUson.]  Boston  and  New 
york,  1908.    [THORNDIKE.]    Chapter  Vm  deals  with  '  The 


3i8  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

Restoration  * ;  chapter  IX  with  '  The  Eighteenth  Century.' 
Each  chapter  ends  with  a  suggestive  '  Note  on  Bibliography.' 

A  convenient  general  history  of  the  London  stage  is 

History  of  the  London  Stage  and  its  Famous  Players  (1576- 
1903),  by  H.  Barton  Baker.  London  and  New  York,  1904. 
[H.  B.  BAKER.]  This  work  appeared  originally  as  The  London 
Stage:  Its  History  and  Traditions  from  1576  to  1888.  2  vols. 
1889.  Though  not  free  from  inaccuracies  in  quotations  and 
other  details,  it  furnishes  useful  material  as  to  the  London 
theatres. 

A  more  extended  account  of  the  English  stage  during  the 
Restoration  and  eighteenth  century  is 

"  Their  Majesties'  Servants."  Annals  of  the  English  Stage 
from  Thomas  Betterton  to  Edmund  Kean,  by  Dr.  Doran,  F.  S.  A. 
Edited  and  revised  by  Robert  W.  Lowe.  3  vols.  1888. 
[DORAN,  Annals.]  This  work  appeared  originally  in  two 
volumes,  in  1864.  Mr.  Lowe's  corrections  and  annotations 
notably  increase  the  value  of  this  useful,  if  rather  discursive, 
popular  history. 

The  most  trustworthy  general  reference  work  for  biographies 
of  dramatists  and  actors  is 

Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  edited  by  Leslie  Stephen 
and  Sidney  Lee.  Revised  edition.  22  vols.  Londo;i  and 
New  York,  1908-1909.  [DICT.  NAT.  BIOG.]  Some'^of  the 
lesser  playwrights  and  actors  omitted  in  this  work  are  included 
in  Biog.  Dram.,  and  in  some  other  cases  Biog.  Dram,  furnishes 
fuller  bibliographical  information  as  to  printed  editions  of  plays, 
but  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  is  the  indispensable  standard  authority. 

The  works  mentioned  above,  it  should  be  emphasized,  are 
simply  representative  of  important  general  reference  authorities 
deahng  definitely  with  some  of  the  broader  aspects  of  English 
drama  and  theatrical  history  discussed  in  this  volume.  Many 
of  the  works  cited  in  the  '  Notes  to  Separate  Chapters '  are 
also  of  considerable  scope.  Thus,  for  random  illustration, 
Colley  Cibber's  Apology  is  actually  '  an  Historical  View  of  the 
Stage  during  his  Own  Time,'  and,  especially  in  R.  W.  Lowe's 
fully  annotated  edition,  is  a  valuable  reference  work  for  a  con- 
siderable period  of  English  theatrical  history.    General  his- 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES  319 

tones  and  manuals  of  English  literature  have  not  been  listed, 
but  such  volumes  as  those  in  the  admirable  series  of  Handbooks 
of  English  Literature,  edited  by  Professor  Hales,  are  useful. 

For  fuller  bibUographical  notes  on  '  Theatrical  Histories, 
Dictionaries,  and  General  Records,'  reference  may  be  made  to 
the  section  (VI)  thus  entitled  in  the  bibliography  to  chap.  IV, 
vol.  X,  of  The  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature. 
Though  that  list  more  definitely  concerns  eighteenth-century 
drama,  a  large  proportion  of  the  works  there  cited  cover  also 
the  Restoration  period.  Two  contemporary  theatrical  records 
concerning  the  Restoration  stage  which  did  not  fall  within  the 
limits  of  that  bibliography  seem  sufficiently  important  to  be 
Usted  here. 

Historia  Histrionica :  An  Historical  Account  of  the  English- 
Stage,  Shewing  The  ancient  Use,  Improvement,  and  Perfection, 
of  Dramatick  Representations,  in  this  Nation.  In  a  Dialogue, 
of  Plays  and  Players.  [By  James  Wright.]  1699.  Quotations 
in  the  present  work  are  from  the  British  Museum  copy  of  the 
original  edition.  Historia  Histrionica  is  accessible  in  various 
modern  reprints :  No.  XXX  in  E.  W.  Ashbee's  Occasional  Fac- 
simile Reprints,  1872  ;  in  vol.  XV  (1876)  of  W.  Carew  HazUtt's 
edition  of  Dodsley's  A  Select  Collection  of  Old  English  Plays;  in 
vol.  I  (1889)  of  R.  W.  Lowe's  edition  of  An  Apology  for  the 
Life  of  Mr.  Colley  Cibber. 

Roscius  Anglicanus,  or,  An  Historical  Review  of  the  Stage 
.  .  .  from  1660  to  1706.  [By  John  Downes,  prompter  at  the 
theatre  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.]  1708.  Quotations  are  from 
the  Bodleian  Library  copy  of  the  original  edition.  Roscius 
Anglicanus  was  reprinted,  '  With  Additions,  by  the  late  Mr. 
Thomas  Davies,'  in  1789.  An  excellent  recent  edition  is 
Roscius  Anglicanus.  ...  A  Fac-Simile  Reprint  of  the  Rare 
Original  of  lyoS.  With  an  historical  preface  by  Joseph  Knight. 
1886. 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS 

Bracketed  names  or  titles  in  heavy  capitals  indicate  abbreviations 
for  convenience  of  reference.  Asterisks  indicate  specific  texts  from 
which  quotations  have  been  made. 

CHAPTER  I 

Throughout  this  volume  references  to  Pepys  are  based  on 

*  The  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys  .  .  .  edited  with  additions  by 
Henry  B.  Wheatley.  London  and  Cambridge,  vols.  I-VIH, 
1893-1896 ;  vol.  IX,  Index,  1899 ;  '  Supplementary  Volume  * 
C  Pepysiana  '),  1899.     [WHEATLEY  edition.] 

Anthony  Hamilton's  Memoires  de  la  Vie  du  Comte  de  Gram- 
mont,  Cologne,  17 13,  appeared  in  an  English  translation  by 
Boyer,  in  1 7 14.  Among  numerous  recent  English  editions  of  the 
Memoirs  is 

*  Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont,  by  Count  Anthony  Hamilton, 
edited  by  Gordon  Goodwin.  2  vols.  1903.  [GOODWIN 
edition.] 

Charles  Lamb's  essay  On  the  Artificial  Comedy  of  the  Last 
Century  appeared  originally  in  The  London  Magazine,  April, 
1822,  as  one  of  a  series  of  articles  on  The  Old  Actors,  later  re- 
arranged in  the  Essays  of  Elia.  Quotations  in  the  text  follow 
*  The  Works  of  Charles  and  Mary  Lamb,  edited  by  E.  V.  Lucas, 
vol.  II  (1903),  pp.  141-147- 

Macaulay's  essay  on  the  Comic  Dramatists  of  the  Restora- 
tion appeared  originally  in  The  Edinburgh  Review,  January, 
1 841,  as  a  review  of  Leigh  Hunt's  edition  of  The  Dramatic  Works 
ofWycherley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar  (1840).  Quo- 
tations in  the  text  follow  the  Albany  edition  of  The  Works  of 
Lord  Macaulay,  vol.  Ill  (1898),  'Leigh  Hunt,*  pp.  335-393' 
[For  quotations  see  especially  pp.  344-346.] 

320 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  32 1 

CHAPTER  II 

The  three  ordinances  of  the  Long  Parliament  against  the 
stage  are  accessible  in 

*  The  English  Drama  and  Stage  under  the  Tudor  and  Stuart 
Princes,  1543-1664,  illustrated  )^y  a  series  of  documents, 
treatises  and  poems.  [Edited  by  W.  C.  Hazlitt.]  Printed  for 
the  Roxburghe  Library.     1869.     [HAZLITT,  English  Drama.] 

*  The  Actors  Remonstrance,  or  Complaint :  for  the  silencing 
of  their  profession,  and  banishment  from  their  severall  Play- 
houses. 1643.  [No.  IV  in  E.  W.  Ashbee's  Occasional  Fac- 
simile Reprints,  1869.] 

The  Actors  Remonstrance  is  also  reprinted  in  Hazlitt,  English 
Drama,  pp.  259-265. 

The  drolls  should  be  investigated  in  Kirkman's  collections, 
here  listed  from  the  Bodleian  Library  copies : 

(i)  The  Wits,  or,  Sport  upon  Sport.  In  Select  Pieces  of 
Drollery,  Digested  into  Scenes  by  way  of  Dialogue.  Together 
with  Variety  of  Humours  of  several  Nations,  fitted  for  the  pleas- 
ure and  content  of  all  Persons,  either  in  Court,  City,  Countrey, 
or  Camp.     The  like  never  before  Published.     Part  I.     1662. 

[Stationer's  Address  to  the  Readers  signed  '  H.  Marsh.'] 
This  collection  (pp.  186)  includes  27  '  Droll-Humours '  with 
'  A  Catalogue  of  the  several  Droll-Humours,  from  what  Plays 
collected,  and  in  what  page  to  be  found  in  this  Book.' 

(2)  The  Wits ;  or.  Sport  upon  Sport.  In  Selected  Pieces  of 
Drollery  .  .  .  1672.  [Address  '  To  the  Readers' signed  '  Fran- 
cis Kirkman.']  This  collection  contains  10  pieces,  occupying 
80  pages,  followed,  in  the  Bodleian  copy,  by  a  Preface  signed 
*  Fra.  Kirkman,'  and  a  reprint  (pp.  186)  of  the  27  Droll-Humours 
of  the  1662  edition. 

(3)  The  Wits;  or.  Sport  upon  Sport.  1673.  [Full  title 
quoted  in  text  of  chapter  11.  ]  This  collection  contains  Kirk- 
man's Preface  and  the  10  pieces  (here  occupying  56  pages) 
printed  in  the  1672  edition. 

D'Avenanf. 

Quotations  from  D'Avenant's  plays  are  taken  from  the  Bod- 
leian Library  copies  of  the  original  editions.    The   Drama- 


322 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 


tists  of  the  Restoration  Series  includes  the  following  critical 
edition : 

The  Dramatic  Works  of  Sir  William  D'Avenant,  with  prefa- 
tory memoir  and  notes  [by  James  Maidment  and  W.  H.  Logan]. 
5  vols.     Edinburgh  and  London.     1 872-1 874. 

A  recent  edition  of  The  Siege  of  Rhodes,  with  an  excellent 
introduction  and  bibliography  dealing  with  D'Avenant's  dra- 
matic work,  is 

Love  and  Honour  and  The  Siege  of  Rhodes,  by  Sir  William 
D'Avenant,  edited  by  James  W.  Tupper  {Belles- Lettres  Series), 
Boston,  U.  S.  A.,  and  London.    1909. 

CHAPTER  m 

The  text  of  the  royal  patent  of  21  August,  1660,  is  accessible 
in  Edmond  Malone's  *  Historical  Account'of  the  Rise  and  Prog- 
ress of  the  English  Stage  in  his  edition  of  The  Plays  and 
Poems  of  William  Shakspeare,  1790,  vol.  I,  part  II,  pp.  244-246. 
Here  also  may  be  found  (pp.  239-247)  the  documents  in  the 
controversy  between  Sir  Henry  Herbert  and  the  patentees. 

For  D'Avenant,  see  Notes  to  Chapter  11.  Thomas  Killigrew's 
Comedies  and  Tragedies  [and  tragi-comedies]  appear  in  the  folio 
edition  of  1664. 

The  *  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration  Series,  edited  by  James 
Maidment  and  W.  H.  Logan,  includes  the  dramatic  works  of 
both  John  Tatham,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1879;  and  John 
Wilson,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1874, 

Abraham  Cowley's  plays  are  reprinted  in 

*  Abraham  Cowley,  Essays,  Plays  and  Sundry  Verses,  the 
text  edited  by  A.  R.  Waller.  Cambridge,  1906.  (In  Cam- 
bridge English  Classics.) 

Richard  Flecknoe's  A  Short  Discourse  of  the  English  Stage 
is  appended  to  Love's  Kingdom.  A  Pastoral  Trage-Comedy, 
1664.  Quotations  are  from  the  Bodleian  Library  copy.  Fleck- 
noe's Discourse  was  reprinted,  in  1869,  in  W.  C.  Hazlitt's 
English  Drama  and  Stage,  pp.  275-281. 

For  discussion  of  Continental  influences  upon  early  Restora- 
tion drama  and  opera  in  England,  see  Ward,  III,  301-324,  and 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  323 

Schelling,  chap.  V,  in  vol.  VIII  of  The  Cambridge  History  of 
English  Literature.  Professor  Schelling's  survey  of  Spanish 
influences  is  especially  suggestive,  and  is  supplemented,  in  his 
bibliography,  with  a  special  section,  '  Spanish  Influences  on 
English  Drama.'  For  general  references  to  French  drama, 
C.  H.  Conrad  Wright's  A  History  of  French  Literature  (New 
York  and  London,  191 2)  will  be  found  valuable. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Quotations  from  Dryden's  plays  are  based  on  the  text  of 

*  The  Works  of  John  Dryden,  illustrated  with  notes,  histori- 
cal, critical,  and  explanatory,  and  a  life  of  the  author,  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  Bart.  Revised  and  corrected  by  George  Saints- 
bury.  18  vols.  Edinburgh  [vols.  XV-XVIII,  London],  1882- 
1893.     [SCOTT-SAINTSBURY  edition.] 

Quotations  from  Dryden's  essays  are  based  on  the  text  of 

*  Essays  of  John  Dryden,  selected  and  edited  by  W.  P.  Ker. 
2  vols.     Oxford,  1900.     [KER.]    These  are  standard  editions. 

For  critical  biographies,  see  especially  Dryden,  by  G.  Saints- 
bury  {English  Men  of  Letters  Series),  1881,  and  Dryden  (chap.  I, 
in  vol.  VIII  of  Camb.  Hist.),  by  A.  W.  Ward.  This  volume 
contains  an  excellent  bibUography  of  Dryden,  by  Henry  B. 
Wheatley. 

For  discussion  of  Orrery's  works,  see 

Roger  Boyle,  Earl  of  Orrery  und  seine  Dramen  zur  Geschichte 
des  heroischen  Dramas  in  England,  von  Eduard  Siegert. 
(Wiener  Beitrdge  zur  englischen  Philologie,  XXIII).  Wien  und 
Leipzig,  1906. 

For  discussion  of  EngUsh  heroic  drama,  see  P.  Holzhausen, 
Dryden's  heroisches  Drama  {Englische  Studien,  vols.  XIII, 
Heilbron,  1889 ;  XV-XVI,  Leipzig,  1891-1892) ;  L.  N.  Chase, 
The  English  Heroic  Play,  New  York,  1903  ;  C.  G.  Child,  The 
Rise  of  the  Heroic  Play  {Modern  Language  Notes,  Baltimore, 
1904) ;  and  J.  W.  Tupper,  The  Relation  of  the  Heroic  Play  to 
the  Romances  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  {Publications  of  the 
Modern  Language  Association  of  America,  Baltimore,  1905). 


324 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 


For  other  references  as  to  Dryden  and  the  English  heroic 
drama,  see  Wheatley's  bibHography,  already  cited. 

The  text  of  The  Rehearsal,  with  key  to  the  passages  of  drama 
which  it  parodies,  is  accessible  in  Arber's  series  of  English  Reprints: 

*  George  Villiers,  second  Duke  of  Buckingham.  The  Re- 
hearsal .  .  .  with  illustrations  from  previous  plays,  etc.  Care- 
fully edited  by  Edward  Arber.     London,  1868. 

The  Rehearsal  is  included  in  Selected  Dramas  of  John  Dryden 
.  .  .  edited  with  introduction  and  notes  by  George  R.  Noyes. 
Chicago,  New  York  [19 10]. 


CHAPTER  V 
Etherege. 

*  The  Works  of  Sir  George  Etheredge,  Plays  and  Poems, 
edited,  with  critical  notes  and  introduction  by  A.  Wilson  Verity, 
1888. 

Edmund  Gosse's  valuable  article  on  '  Sir  George  Etheredge,' 
in  his  Seventeenth-Century  Studies,  1883,  pp.  233-265,  deserves 
especial  notice  on  account  of  its  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  a  dramatist  who  had  not  then  received  adequate  critical 
attention. 

Etherege's  Letterbook,  effectively  quoted  by  both  Gosse  and 
Verity,  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

A  considerable  study  (pp.  278)  of  Etherege  is  Sir  George 
Etheredge,  sein  Leben,  seine  Zeit  und  seine  Dramen,  von  Vin- 
cenz  Meindl  (Wiener  Beitrdge  zur  englischen  Philologie,  XIV). 
Wien  und  Leipzig,  1901. 

Wycherley. 

*  William  Wycherley,  edited,  with  an  introduction  and  notes, 
by  W.  C.  Ward.     Unexpurgated  edition  {Mermaid  Series),  1888. 

Wycherley 's  plays  are  accessible  also  in  The  Dramatic  Works 
of  Wycherley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farquhar.  With  bio- 
graphical and  critical  notices  by  Leigh  Hunt,  1840.  (Other 
editions,  1849  and  1851.)  Leigh  Hunt's  work,  though  now 
superseded  by  later  critical  editions  of  the  separate  dramatists, 
is  significant  both  because  it  was  long  a  convenient  standard 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  325 

of  reference  and  because  it  prompted  Macaulay's  review  essay 
on  the  Comic  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration,  sometimes  entitled 
Leigh  Hunt. 

A  study  (pp.  74)  of  Wycherley,  with  especial  attention  to 
Moliere's  influence  on  his  plays,  is  William  Wycherley's  Leben 
und  dramatische  Werke.  Mit  besonderer  Beriicksichtigung 
von  Wycherley  als  Plagiator  Moliere's.  Von  Dr.  Johannes 
Klette.     Miinster,  1883. 

Shadwell. 

*  Thomas  Shadwell,  edited,  with  an  introduction  and  notes, 
by  George  Saintsbury  {Mermaid  Series).  London  and  New 
York  [1903].  This  excellent  edition  includes  only  The  Sullen 
Lovers,  A  True  Widow,  The  Squire  of  Alsatia,  and  Bury  Fair. 

Quotations  from  plays  not  in  Saintsbury's  edition  are  from 
the  original  editions  of  the  separate  plays. 

A  review  of  Shadwell's  dramatic  works,  '  attempting  to  put 
the  reputation  of  this  author  on  its  true  level,  and  vindicate 
his  memory  from  that  charge  of  dulness  which  hangs  over  it,' 
and  containing  considerable  excerpts  from  the  plays,  appeared 
in  1828,  in  The  Retrospective  Review,  Second  Series,  vol.  II, 
pp.  55-96. 

An  article  on  Thomas  Shadwell  in  two  sections,  the  latter 
deahng  chiefly  with  The  Lancashire  Witches,  appeared  in  1873, 
in  The  New  Monthly  Magazine,  vol.  Ill,  New  Series,  pp.  292- 
297;  353-361. 

CHAPTER  VI 

For  bibliographical  commentary  on  Dryden,  see  Notes  to 
Chapter  IV. 

Quotations  from  Thomas  Rymer's  critical  works  are  taken 
from  the  original  editions  whose  titles  and  dates  are  indicated 
in  the  main  text.  Selections  from  Rymer's  treatises  on  the 
drama  are  given  in  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
Edited  by  J.  E.  Spingarn.  3  vols.  Oxford,  1 908-1 909.  Vols. 
II  and  III  of  this  excellent  work  include  many  passages  rep- 
resentative of  dramatic  criticism  during  the  Restoration 
period. 


326  BIBLIOGRAPfflCAL  NOTES 

Quotations  from  Saint-Evremond's  critical  writings  are 
from  the  17 14  London  edition  of  his  Works, '  Made  EngHsh  from 
the  French  Original,'  and  containing  a  life  of  the  author  by  P. 
Des  Maizeaux.  Saint-Evremond's  (Euvres  Meslees  had  ap- 
peared in  a  two-volume  London  edition  in  1705,  two  years  after 
his  death.  For  other  editions,  see  Sir  Frank  T.  Marzials's 
article  on  Saint-Evremond  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  and  the  entries 
in  the  British  Museimi  catalogue. 

Lee. 

Quotations  from  Lee's  plays  are  taken  from  the  original 
editions  of  the  separate  plays.  The  Yale  University  Library 
has  an  edition  of  The  Works  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Lee,  in  one 
Volume  [containing  13  tragedies],  1694  [variously  dated 
separate  title-pages].  This  antedates  the  editions  of  Lee's 
Works  cited  in  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  and  in  the  Camb.  Hist. 
bibliography.  There  is  no  recent  reprint  of  Lee's  complete 
dramatic  works.  For  critical  treatises,  see  Camh.  Hist.  bibHog- 
raphy,  vol.  VIII,  pp.  437-438. 

Otway. 

*  Thomas  Otway,  with  an  introduction  and  notes,  by  the  Hon. 
Roden  Noel.     TJnexpurgated  edition  {Mermaid  Series)  ^  1888. 

The  Orphan  and  Venice  Preserved,  by  Thomas  Otway, 
edited  by  Charles  F.  McClumpha  {Belles- Lettres  Series)  y  Boston, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  London  [1908].  This  edition  contains  useful  notes 
and  bibUography. 

Edmund  Gosse's  excellent  essay,  Thomas  Otway,  which  origi- 
nally appeared  in  The  Cornhill  Magazine,  December,  1877,  is 
reprinted  in  his  Seventeenth-Century  Studies,  1883,  pp.  269-305. 

CHAPTER  Vn 

The  field  of  Restoration  Pastoral  drama  is  admirably  surveyed 
in 

English  Pastoral  Drama,  from  the  Restoration  to  the  date  of 
the  publication  of  the  "  Lyrical  Ballads  "  (1660-1798),  by 
Jeannette  Marks  [1908].  An  unusually  full  bibUography 
increases  the  merits  of  this  work. 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  327 

The  works  of  many  of  the  minor  playwrights  mentioned  in 
this  chapter  have  not  had  recent  critical  reprint.  The  Drams 
atists  of  the  Restoration  Series,  edited  by  James  Maidment  and 
W.  H.  Logan,  includes  the  dramatic  works  of  John  CrownCj 
4  vols.,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1873-1874;  and  John  Lacy^ 
Edinburgh  and  London,  1875.  The  dramatic  work  of  Mrs. 
Behn  is  represented  in  The  Plays,  Histories,  and  Novels  of  the 
ingenious  Mrs.  Aphra  Behn.  With  Life  and  Memoirs.  6  vols. 
1871. 

An  edition  of  The  Dramatic  Works  of  Sir  Charles  Sedley^ 
2  vols.,  appeared  in  1776;  and  of  Southerne's  Plays,  3  vols., 
in  1774.  Settle  is  the  subject  of  a  special  monograph,  Elkanah 
Settle,  his  life  and  works.  By  F.  C.  Brown,  Chicago,  1910.  Mrs. 
Philips  is  the  subject  of  an  essay,  '  The  Matchless  Orinda,'  in 
Gosse's  Seventeenth-Century  Studies,  1883,  pp.  205-230. 

For  further  bibliographical  material  concerning  minor  Res- 
toration dramatists,  see  bibliographies  to  chaps.  V,  VI,  and 
VII,  in  vol.  VIII  of  Camh.  Hist.  For  further  critical  material 
see  these  chapters  and  Ward. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

For  bibliographical  commentary  on  the  Collier  controversy, 
see  Notes  to  Chapter  IX. 

Congreve. 

*  William  Congreve,  edited  by  Alex.  Charles  Ewald  (Mer- 
maid Series)  f  1887. 

The  Comedies  of  William  Congreve,  with  an  introduction  by 
G.  S.  Street  {English  Classics f  edited  by  W.  E.  Henley).  2  vols. 
1895. 

William  Congreve,  with  introduction  by  William  Archer 
(Masterpieces  of  the  English  Drama,  F.  E.  Schelling,  General 
Editor).  New  York,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  [1912].  This  omits 
The  Old  Bachelor.  The  excellent  introduction  includes  an 
extended  analysis  of  the  dramatic  structure  of  Congreve's  plays. 

A  valuable  critical  biography  is  Life  of  William  Congreve,  by 
Edmund  Gosse  (Great  Writers  Series)  ^  1888.    This  contains 


328  BIBLIOGRAPmCAL  NOTES 

a  bibliography  by  John  P^  Anderson.  A  considerable  study 
(pp.  179)  of  Congreve  is  William  Congreve,  sein  Leben  und 
seine  Lustspiele,  von  D.  Schmid  {Wiener  Beitrdge  zur  englischen 
Philologie,  VI).  Wien  und  Leipzig,  1897. 
A  significant  interpretation  of  Congreve's  comedy  is  given 
^in  George  Meredith's  Essay  on  Comedy  and  the  Uses  of  the 
Comic  Spirit,  originally  delivered  as  a  lecture,  first  published  in 
The  New  Quarterly  Magazine,  April,  1877,  and  printed  in  book 
form,  1897. 

Vanbrugh. 

*  Sir  John  Vanbrugh,  edited,  with  an  introduction  and  notes, 
by  A.  E.  H.  Swaen  (Mermaid  Series),  1896.  This  includes 
only  the  chief  plays. 

Sir  John  Vanbrugh,  edited  by  W.  C.  Ward.  2  vols.  1893. 
This  fidl  and  valuable  critical  edition  includes  a  reprint  of 
Vanbrugh's  A  Short  Vindication  of  the  Relapse  and  the  Frovok'd 
Wife,  from  Immorality  and  Profaneness. 

A  considerable  study  (pp.  199)  of  Vanbrugh  is  John  Van- 
brughs  Leben  und  Werke.  Von  Max  Dametz  {Wiener  Beitrdge 
zur  englischen  Philologie,  VII).    Wien  imd  Leipzig,  1898. 

Farquhar. 

George  Farquhar,  edited,  with  an  introduction  and  notes,  by 
William  Archer  {Mermaid  Series)^  London  and  New  York  [1906]. 
This  includes  only  the  chief  plays.    The  introduction  is  valuable. 

The  Dramatic  Works  of  George  Farquhar,  edited,  with  life 
and  notes,  by  Alex.  Charles  Ewald.  2  vols.  1892.  [Vol.  U 
revised  by  Robert  W.  Lowe.  Both  volumes  actually  appeared 
in  1891.] 

The  Temple  Dramatists  Series  includes  The  Beaux-Stratagem 
.  .  .  edited  with  a  Preface  and  Notes  by  H.  Macaulay  Fitzgibbon. 
1898. 

A  considerable  study  (pp.  372)  of  Farquhar  is  George  Far- 
quhar, sein  Leben  und  seine  Original-Dramen,  von  Dr.  D. 
Schmid  {Wiener  Beitrdge  zur  englischen  Philologie,  XVIII). 
Wien  und  Leipzig,  1904. 

The  plays  of  the  three  dramatists  discussed  in  this  chapter 
are  accessible  in  Leigh  Hunt's  edition,  The  Dramatic  Works  of 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  329 

Wyckerley,  Congreve,  Vanbrugh,  and  Farqukar  (see  Notes  to 
Chapter  V,  under  Wycherley).  A  critical  review  of  the  four 
dramatists  grouped  in  Leigh  Hunt's  edition  is  included  in 
*Lecttires  on  the  English  Comic  Writers.  By  William  Haz- 
litt.  1819.  (Lecture  IV.  On  Wycherley,  Congreve,  Van- 
brugh, and  Farquhar,  pp.  133-176).  A  very  recent  and  exten- 
sive treatment  of  Etherege  and  the  four  dramatists  just  named 
is  given  in  The  Comedy  of  Manners,  by  John  Palmer,  1913. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Collier  Controversy. 

The  bibliography  to  chap.  VI  in  vol.  VIII  of  Camb.  Hist. 
contains  a  special  section  (pp.  432-434)  entitled  *  Jeremy  CoUier 
and  the  Controversy  concerning  the  Morality  of  the  Stage.' 
A  good  running  account  of  the  controversy  is  in  Edmund 
Gosse's  Life  of  William  Congreve,  chap.  III. 

Colley  Cibber. 

Quotations  from  Colley  Cibber's  plays  are  taken  from  the 
original  editions. 

Colley  Cibber's  Apology  (1740)  is  best  consulted  in 
*  An  Apology  for  the  Life  of  Mr.  Colley  Cibber,  written  by 
himself.  A  new  edition  with  notes  and  supplement,  by  Robert 
W.  Lowe.  2  vols.  1889.  This  includes  also  reprints  of  James 
Wright's  Historia  Histrionica  (1699),  and  of  Anthony  Aston's 
A  Brief  Supplement  to  Colley  Cibber,  Esq. :  his  Lives  of  the  late 
Famous  Actors  and  Actresses.  Mr.  Lowe's  fideUty  to  Cibber's 
text  preserves  the  full  vitality  of  the  original,  while  his  valuable 
annotations  are  a  safeguard  against  numerous  uncertainties  or 
inaccuracies  in  Cibber's  statements. 

Mrs.  Centlivre. 

Mrs.  Centlivre's  plays  are  accessible  in  The  Dramatic  Works 
of  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Centlivre,  with  a  New  Account  of  her  Life. 
3  vols.     1872.     This  is  a  reprint  of  the  edition  of  1 760-1 761. 

A  considerable  study  of  her  comedies  by  Robert  Seibt  is 
presented  in  (i)  Die  Komodien  der  Mrs.  Centlivre.    Halle  a. 


330  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

S.  1909.  This  section  (pp.  58)  is  essentially  a  summary  of 
plots  and  characters ;  (2)  articles  in  Anglia,  Halle  a.  S.,  XXXII 
(1909),  434-480,  and  XXXIII  (191  o),  77-119.  These  sections 
present  a  critical  study  of  the  comedies. 

Steele. 

Richard  Steele,  edited,  with  an  introduction  and  notes,  by 
G.  A.  Aitken  (Mermaid  Series),  London  and  New  York,  1894. 
This  excellent  edition  contains,  in  addition  to  the  chief  plays, 
two  fragments.  The  School  of  Action,  and  The  Gentleman,  and 
an  appendix  which  reprints  various  documents  concerning 
Steele's  relations  with  the  theatre. 

A  very  valuable  and  exhaustive  critical  biography  of  Steele  is 

Life  of  Richard  Steele,  by  George  A.  Aitken.  2  vols.  1889. 
A  copious  bibliography  is  given  in  vol.  II,  pp.  387-428. 

A  briefer  biography  is  Richard  Steele,  by  Austin  Dobson 
(English  Worthies  Series,  edited  by  Andrew  Lang),  1886.  For 
further  material,  see  bibliography  to  chap.  II  in  vol.  IX  (pp. 
439-443)  of  Camb.  Hist. 


CHAPTER  X 
Rowe. 

*The  Fair  Penitent  and  Jane  Shore,  by  Nicholas  Rowe, 
edited  by  Sophie  Chantal  Hart  (Belles- Lettres  Series).  Boston, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  London,  1907.  This  contains  a  useful  introduc- 
tion and  bibliography. 

Quotations  from  other  plays  of  Rowe  are  from  The  Dramatick 
Works  of  Nicholas  Rowe.    2  vols.     1720. 

Addison. 

Quotations  from  Cato  are  from  the  original  edition  of  1713. 
'  Addison's  Cato  '  is  the  subject  of  one  of  the  discussions  (pp. 
39-70)  in  Famous  Plays,  with  a  discourse  by  way  of  prologue  on 
The  Playhouses  of  the  Restoration.  By  J.  Fitzgerald  MoUoy. 
1886.    [The  first '  discourse  '  in  this  volume  is  actually  entitled 

*  Congreve's  Love  for  Love,'  but  deals  primarily  with  the 

*  Playhouses  of  the  Restoration.'] 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  331 

Addison's  more  important  critical  utterances  on  drama  and 
opera  are  conveniently  grouped  in  *  Addison,  Selections  from 
Addison's  papers  contributed  to  the  Spectator,  edited  with 
introduction  and  notes  by  Thomas  Arnold  {Clarendon  Press 
Series,  1866,  etc.).     Oxford. 

A  considerable  study  of  Addison  is  included  in  Le  Public  et 
les  Hommes  de  Lettres  en  Angleterre  au  dix-huitieme  Siecle, 
1 660-1 744,  par  Alexandre  Beljame.  Paris,  1883.  [Deuxieme 
edition  augmentee  d'un  Index.  Paris,  1897.]  The  first 
chapter  of  this  work, '  Dryden  et  Le  Theatre'  (pp.  1-143),  con- 
tains much  valuable  material  concerning  Restoration  drama, 
and  the  bibUography  (pp.  415-507,  1897  edition)  of  the  entire 
work  is  full  and  precise. 

A  convenient  biography  is  Addison,  by  W.  J.  Courthope 
{English  Men  of  Letters  Series).  1884.  For  further  biblio- 
graphical material  concerning  Addison  see  bibUography  (pp. 
434-439)  to  chap.  II  in  vol.  IX  of  Camb.  Hist. 


CHAPTER  XI 

For  fuU  account  and  bibliography  of  English  dramatic  trans- 
lations from  Pierre  and  Thomas  Corneille  and  Racine,  see 
Corneille  and  Racine  in  England,  by  Dorothea  Frances  Can- 
field.     New  York  and  London,  1904. 

For  contemporary  accounts  of  eighteenth-century  pan- 
tomimes, see  John  Weaver's  History  of  the  Mimes  and  Panto- 
mimes, 1728;  Colley  Gibber's  Apology,  1740  [Lowe  edition,  II, 
179  fiF.] ;  Thomas  Davies's  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrick, 
1780,  vol.  I,  chap.  X;  John  Jackson's  History  of  the  Scottish 
Stage,  Edinburgh,  1793  [especially  the  account  of  John  Rich, 
PP-  363-369]. 
Gay. 

Quotations  from  The  Beggar^ s  Opera  are  from  the  first  edition 
of  1728  of  which  there  are  different  impressions.  The  King^s 
Library,  edited  by  Professor  Gollancz,  contains  a  convenient 
reprint  of  The  Beggar's  Opera,  edited  by  G.  Hamilton  Macleod, 
with  preface,  notes,  and  bibliography,  1905. 


332  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

*  John  Gay's  Beggar's  Opera '  is  the  subject  of  a  discussion 
(pp.  73-100)  in  Molloy's  Famous  Plays,  1886.  A  critical  study 
and  reprint  of  Gay's  operas  is  John  Gay's  Singspiele  mit  Ein- 
leitung  und  Anmerkungen  .  .  .  von  Gregor  Sarrazin.  Weimar, 
1898  (pp.  xxxii  +  209).  A  noteworthy  recent  volume  is  "  Polly 
Peachum,"  being  the  story  of  Lavinia  Fenton  (Duchess  of 
Bolton)  and  "  The  Beggar's  Opera,"  by  Charles  E.  Pearce 
[19 13].  This  presents  much  material  drawn  from  newspapers 
and  other  contemporary  sources,  and  contains  a  condensed 
'  List  of  Authorities,'  pp.  373-376. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Except  in  the  case  of  Lillo,  quotations  from  plays  in  Chapter 
XII  are  taken  from  the  original  editions  of  the  individual  plays. 

A  considerable  study  of  Young  is  Le  Poete  Edward  Young 
(1683-1765) ,  Etude  sur  sa  Vie  et  ses  (Euvres,  par  W.  Thomas. 
Paris,  1 901.  An  extensive  study  (pp.  678)  of  Thomson  is 
James  Thomson,  sa  Vie  et  ses  (Euvres,  par  Leon  Morel.  Paris, 
1895.  For  further  bibliographical  information  see  bibliog- 
raphies in  vol.  IX  of  Camh.  Hist.:  of  Young  (chap.  VII),  p. 
458 ;  of  Thomson  (chap.  V),  pp.  446-450. 

Voltaire  and  English  Drama. 

A  most  scholarly  and  significant  study  of  Voltaire's  relation 
to  EngKsh  drama  and  dramatic  criticism  is  Shakespeare  and 
Voltaire,  by  Thomas  R.  Lounsbury  [vol.  II  in  Lounsbury's 
Shakespearean  Wars].     New  York  and  London,  1902. 

The  present  writer's  bibHography  to  chap.  IV  in  vol.  X  of 
Camb.  Hist,  includes  a  special  section,  '  English  Adaptations  of 
Voltaire  performed  on  the  English  Stage,  1734-17  76,'  which 
presents  a  chronological  list  of  English  versions  of  Voltaire's 
dramas  and  supplies  some  bibhographical  references  concerning 
his  relation  to  EngUsh  drama. 

Lillo. 

*  The  London  Merchant,  or  The  History  of  George  Barnwell, 
and  Fatal  Curiosity,  by  George  Lillo,  edited  by  Adolphus 
William  Ward  (Belles- Lettres  Series).    Boston,  U.  S.  A.,  and 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  333 

London,  1906.  This  admirable  edition  has  a  bibliography  and 
an  introduction  which  is  a  notable  study  of  Lillo's  work  and 
its  influence  on  Continental  drama. 

An  *  Inaugural  Dissertation  '  by  Leopold  Hoffman  is  George 
Lillo  {1693-1^30),  Marburg,  1888. 

Moore. 

Quotations  from  Moore's  plays  are  from  the  original  editions. 
His  collected  Poems,  Fables,  and  Plays  appeared  in  1756.  An 
'  Inaugural-Dissertation '  by  Hugo  Beyer  is  Edward  Moore. 
Sein  Leben  und  seine  dramatischen  Werke.    Leipzig,  1889. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Fielding. 

*The  Complete  Works  of  Henry  Fielding,  Esq.  With  an 
Essay  on  the  Life,  Genius  and  Achievement  of  the  Author,  by 
William  Ernest  Henley.  Plays  and  Poems  in  five  volumes 
[vols.  VIII-XII].     New  York  [1902]. 

A  convenient  reprint  of  Tom  Thumb  is  in  Burlesque  Plays 
and  Poems.  With  an  introduction  by  Henry  Motley  {Morley^s 
Universal  Library).  London  and  New  York,  1885.  A  more 
critical  edition  is  Fielding's  Tom  Thumb.  Mit  Einleitimg 
herausgegeben,  von  Felix  Lindner  {Englische  Textbibliothek, 
IV).    Berlin,  1899. 

A  considerable  study  (pp.  186)  is  Henry  Fiel dings  dramat- 
ische  Werke.  Litterarische  Studie  von  Dr.  Felix  Lindner.  Leip- 
zig &  Dresden,  1895. 

A  useful  biography  of  Fielding,  in  which  much  of  the  first 
two  chapters  deals  with  his  dramatic  work,  is  Fielding,  by  Austin 
Dobson  {English  Men  of  Letters  Series).  1883.  A  recent  work 
(pp.  326)  is  Henry  Fielding,  a  Memoir,  by  G.  M.  Godden. 
1 910.  For  further  bibliographical  information  see  bibliography 
(pp.  413-418)  to  chap.  II  in  vol.  X  of  Camb.  Hist. 

Carey. 

*  The  Dramatick  Works  of  Henry  Carey  appeared  in  a  col- 
lected edition  in  1743.  A  convenient  reprint  of  Chrononhoton- 
thologos  is  in  Henry  Morley's  Burlesque  Plays  and  Poems  (see 
above,  imder  Fielding). 


334  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  Licensing  Act. 

A  full  and  scholarly  account  of  the  causes  leading  to  the 
Licensing  Act  is  given  in  The  Struggle  for  a  Free  Stage  in 
London,  by  Watson  Nicholson.  Boston  and  New  York  [also 
London],  1906.  See  especially  chap.  III.  A  very  recent  work 
of  considerable  range  is  Censorship  in  England,  by  Frank 
Fowell  and  Frank  Palmer  [1913]. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Garrick. 

Quotations  from  Garrick's  plays  are  from  the  original  editions 
of  the  individual  plays.  The  present  writer's  bibliography  to 
chap.  IV  in  vol.  X  of  Camh.  Hist,  presents  separate  Usts  of 
Garrick's  plays  and  dramatic  adaptations,  and  some  indication 
of  critical  and  bibliographical  material.  Among  the  more 
recent  volumes  listed  is  Garrick  and  His  Circle,  by  Mrs. 
Clement  Parsons.  New  York  and  London,  1906.  This 
valuable  study  has  a  Hst  of  '  Some  Works  Consulted,'  pp. 
xvii-xx.  An  excellent  work  with  much  new  material  is  A  Cos- 
mopolitan Actor,  David  Garrick  and  His  French  Friends,  by 
Frank  A.  Hedgecock  [191 2].  ['A  very  free  rendering  and 
adaptation'  of  Hedgecock's  David  Garrick  et  ses  Amis  Franqais. 
Paris,  191 1.]  The  London  edition  contains  (pp.  432-436)  '  A 
List  of  the  Principal  Works  Quoted  or  Referred  to/  and  a  sec- 
tion of  the  Appendix  (pp.  426-429),  '  Garrick  and  the  Plays  of 
Shakespeare,'  which  records  the  Shakespearean  dramas  acted 
or  produced  by  Garrick. 

A  considerable  account  of  acting  during  the  Garrick  period 
is  given  (pp.  375-412)  in  vol.  V  (1909)  of  A  History  of  Theatrical 
Art,  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times,  by  Karl  Mantzius.  Au- 
thorised Translation  by  Louise  von  Cossel.  [Other  sections 
in  vol.  V  cover  '  The  Betterton  Period  '  (pp.  306-337)  and  '  The 
Gibber  Period  '  (pp.  338-374).]  For  early  accounts  of  Garrick 
and  the  theatre  of  his  day,  see  especially  the  two  works  by 
Thomas  Davies :  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrick,  Esq. 
2  vols.,  1780,  and  Dramatic  Miscellanies,  3  vols.,  1784  [vol.  II 
dated  1783]. 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  335 

Adaptations  of  Shakespeare's  Plays. 

For  broader  discussion  of  the  general  subject  of  which  the 
history  of  Garrick's  stage-versions  of  Shakespeare  forms  but 
one  part,  see  especially  chap.  VIII, '  Alterations  of  Shakespeare's 
Plays,'  in  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist,  by  Thomas  R. 
Lounsbury  (vol.  I  in  Lounsbury's  Shakespearean  Wars).  New 
York  and  London,  1902.  A  very  large  part  of  this  entire  volume 
is  directly  concerned  with  the  history  of  Shakespearean  criti- 
cism during  the  period  covered  by  the  present  work.  A  con- 
siderable study  (pp.  190)  surve3dng  the  Restoration  period  as 
well  as  the  eighteenth  century  is  Alterations  and  Adaptations 
of  Shakespeare,  by  Frederick  W.  Kilbourne.  Boston  [U.  S.  A.], 
1906.  A  most  extensive  reference  work  (pp.  729)  for  biblio- 
graphical information  as  to  Restoration  and  eighteenth-century 
editions  and  versions  of  Shakespeare's  plays  is  Shakespeare 
Bibliography,  by  William  Jaggard.     Stratford-on-Avon,  1911. 

For  works  concerning  Voltaire's  relation  to  the  English  stage 
during  the  Garrick  era,  see  Notes  to  Chapter  XII,  under 
Voltaire  and  English  Drama.  For  discussion  of  English  ver- 
sions of  plays  by  Pierre  and  Thomas  Corneille  and  Racine 
during  this  period,  see  especially  chap.  XV  in  Corneille  and 
Racine  in  England,  by  Dorothea  Frances  Canfield,  New  York 
and  London,  1904. 

Quotations  from  Dr.  Johnson's  Irene  are  from  the  original 
edition  of  1749.  An  admirable  bibliography  of  Johnson  by 
David  Nichol  Smith  is  in  vol.  X  of  Camb.  Hist.  (pp.  459-480). 
'  Dr.  Johnson's  Irene  '  is  the  subject  of  a  discussion  (pp.  103- 
126)  in  Molloy's  Famous  Plays,  1886. 

Home. 

Quotations  from  Home's  Douglas  are  from  the  original  Lon- 
don edition  of  1757.  The  1760  edition  of  his  Dramatic  Works 
contains  only  Douglas,  Agis,  and  The  Siege  of  Aquileia.  His 
Dramatic  Works  appeared  in  a  two-volume  Edinburgh  edition 
in  1798.  A  more  recent  edition  is  The  Works  of  John  Home 
now  first  collected  [with  Henry  Mackenzie's  '  Account  of  the 
Life  and  Writings  of  John  Home'].  3  vols.  Edinburgh.  1822. 
The  ^  Account '  was  also  printed  separately,  Edinburgh,  1822. 


336  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

For  discussion  of  the  controversy  over  Douglas,  see  sect. 
XVII  (pp.  313-330)  in  John  Jackson's  History  of  the  Scottish 
Stage,  Edinburgh,  1793.  The  Bodleian  Library  contains  a 
valuable  collection  of  the  controversial  pamphlets.  '  Douglas  * 
is  the  subject  of  chap.  VI  (pp.  85-92)  in  The  Annals  of  the 
Edinburgh  Stage,  with  an  account  of  the  Rise  and  Progress 
of  Dramatic  Writing  in  Scotland,  by  James  C.  Dibdin.  Edin- 
burgh, 1888. 

CHAPTER  XV 

Foote. 

Quotations  from  Foote's  plays  are  from  The  Dramatic  Works 
of  Samuel  Foote,  Esq.  4  vols.  [1787-1788?]  This  collection 
is  made  up  from  dififerent  editions  of  the  separate  plays  with 
variously  dated  individual  title-pages  and  separate  pagination, 

A  considerable  account  of  Foote  is  Samuel  Foote,  a  biography, 
by  Percy  Fitzgerald.  1910.  For  further  bibHographical 
material  see  bibliography  to  chap.  IV  in  vol.  X  of  Camb.  Hist. 
(pp.  430-431). 

The  plays  of  Arthur  Murphy  are  accessible  in  The  Works  of 
Arthur  Murphy,  Esq.  7  vols.  1786.  The  plays  of  George 
Colman  the  Elder  are  accessible  in  The  Dramatick  Works  of 
George  Colman.  4  vols.  1777.  Quotations  in  the  present 
volume  are  from  the  original  editions  of  the  separate  plays. 
For  bibliographical  material  concerning  these  and  other  authors 
discussed  in  Chapter  XV,  see  the  present  writer's  bibhography 
to  chap.  IV  in  vol.  X  of  Camb.  Hist. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A  definite  discussion  of  EngHsh  sentimental  drama  is  The 
Development  of  English  Sentimental  Comedy  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  by  Osborn  Waterhouse,  in  Anglia,  Halle  a.  S., 
XXX  (1907),  137-172,  269-305.  The  Introductions,  in  the 
Belles-Lettres  Series,  to  Ward's  LUlo  (see  Notes  to  Chapter 
XII,  under  LUlo)  and  Austin  Dobson's  Goldsmith  (see  Notes 
to  Chapter  XVII)  contain  brief,  but  valuable,  references  to 
sentimental  drama  in  England  and  France. 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  337 

Goldsmith's  important  Essay  on  the  Theatre;  or,  A  Com- 
parison between  Laughing  and  Sentimental  Comedy,  published 
originally  in  the  Westminster  Magazine,  December,  1772,  is 
reprinted  in  Austin  Dobson's  edition  of  Goldsmith's  plays  in 
the  Belles- Lettres  Series,  pp.  125-130. 

Kelly  and  Cumberland. 

Quotations  from  the  plays  of  Hugh  Kelly  and  Richard  Cum- 
berland are  from  the  original  editions  of  the  separate  plays. 
Kelly's  plays  are  accessible  in  The  Works  of  Hugh  Kelly.  To 
which  is  prefixed  the  Life  of  the  Author.     1778. 

The  most  remarkable  account  of  Cumberland  is  his  own 
autobiography:  Memoirs  of  Richard  Cumberland.  Written 
by  himself.  1806.  Quotations  in  the  present  work  are  from 
the  convenient  two-volume  octavo  edition  of  1807.  A  year 
after  Cumberland's  death,  his  Memoirs  was  drawn  upon  with 
a  freedom  that  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  might  have  resented  in  The 
Life  of  Richard  Cumberland,  Esq.  By  William  Mulford.  181 2. 
An  earHer  account  of  Cumberland  is  the  chapter  (XLVIH)  by 
Thomas  Davies  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Garrick,  Esq. 
(1780  edition,  vol.  II,  pp.  263-278).  Many  of  Cumberland's 
letters  which  confirm  the  unconscious  self-revelations  of  the 
Memoirs  are  in  The  Private  Correspondence  of  David  Garrick 
with  the  most  celebrated  persons  of  his  time.  2  vols.  1831-1832. 
See  especially,  I,  284-285,  380-382,  387,  425-428,  434,  437- 
438,  551-553;  II,  126,  200,  206,  282-286.  'Richard  Cumber- 
land '  is  the  subject  of  an  essay  (pp.  192-232)  in  Eighteenth 
Century  Stttdies.    By  Francis  Hitchman.     1881. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Goldsmith. 

*  The  Good  Natur'd  Man  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  by 
Oliver  Goldsmith.  The  introduction  and  biographical  and 
critical  material  by  Austin  Dob  son,  the  text  collated  by  George 
P.  Baker  (Belles- Lettres  Series).  Boston,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Lon- 
don [1903].  This  admirable  edition  contains  suggestive  notes, 
introduction,  and  bibliography. 


338  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

A  useful  recent  edition  is  The  Plays  of  Oliver  Goldsmith 
[cover- title].  The  Good-Natured  Man,  She  Stoops  to  Conquer, 
by  Oliver  Goldsmith,  edited  with  introduction  and  notes  by 
Thomas  H.  Dickinson  (Riverside  Literature  Series).  Boston, 
New  York,  Chicago  [1908].  Convenient  recent  editions  of  the 
separate  plays  include  Goldsmith,  The  Good-Nattir'd  Man, 
edited  with  introduction  and  notes  by  G.  G.  Whiskard.  Ox- 
ford, 1912,  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  edited  with  introduc- 
tion and  notes  by  G.  A.  F.  M.  Chatwin,  Oxford,  1912. 

Among  biographies  of  Goldsmith  are  The  Life  and  Adventures 
of  Oliver  Goldsmith.  A  biography :  in  four  books.  By  John 
Forster.  1848 ;  —  Goldsmith,  by  "William  Black  {English  Men 
of  Letters  Series) .  1878 ;  —  Life  of  Oliver  Goldsmith.  By  Austin 
Dobson  {Great  Writers  Series).  1888  [with  bibliography  by 
John  P.  Anderson] ;  —  The  Life  of  Oliver  Goldsmith,  by  Frank 
Frankfort  Moore.  1910.  [New  York,  191 1.]  A  very  recent  ac- 
count of  Goldsmith  by  Austin  Dobson  is  chap.  IX  in  vol.  X 
of  Camh.  Hist.,  which  is  supplemented  with  a  bibliography 
(pp.  480-484). 

'  Goldsmith's  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  '  is  the  subject  of  a  dis- 
cussion (pp.  129-174)  in  MoUoy's  Famous  Plays,  1886.  An 
*  Inaugural-Dissertation  (pp.  116)  on  Goldsmith  als  Dramatiker/ 
by  Arthur  Mendt,  was  published  at  Leipzig  in  191 1. 

A  considerable  account  of  the  exordium  to  Samuel  Footers 
The  Handsome  Housemaid,  or  Piety  in  Pattens  is  in  vol.  I, 
pp.  14-22,  of  The  History  of  the  Theatres  of  London  [by 
Walley  Chamberlain  Oulton,  see  *  Dedication'].  2  vols.  1796. 
This  useful  work,  it  may  here  be  noted,  contains  '  An  Annual 
Register  of  all  the  new  and  revived  Tragedies,  Comedies, 
Operas,  Farces,  Pantomimes,  &c.  that  have  been  performed  at 
the  Theatres-Royal,  in  London,  from  the  year  1771  to  1795.' 
It  is  a  continuation  of  Benjamin  Victor's  History  of  the  Theatres 
of  London,  1771,  which,  in  turn,  is  a  continuation  of  Victor's 
previous  History,  2  vols.,  1761.  These  three  works  cover  the 
years  from  1730  to  1796.  For  fuller  details  see  bibliography  to 
chap.  IV  in  vol.  X  of  Camh.  Hist.  (pp.  442-443). 


NOTES  TO  SEPARATE  CHAPTERS  339 

CHAPTER  XVm 

Sheridan. 

Quotations  from  The  Rivals  and  The  Critic  are  from  the  first 
printed  editions  of  the  separate  plays.  Quotations  from  The 
School  for  Scandal  are  from  the  text,  based  on  Sheridan's  manu- 
script, in  *  Sheridan's  Plays  now  printed  as  he  wrote  them, 
and  his  mother's  unpublished  comedy,  A  Journey  to  Bath. 
Edited  by  W.  Fraser  Rae.  1902.  Sheridan's  continued  in- 
difference toward  the  question  of  revising  his  text  for  pubKca- 
tion  helps  to  account  for  niunerous  textual  variants  in  editions 
published  during  his  Ufetime,  Five  years  after  his  death, 
appeared  The  Works  of  the  late  Right  Honourable  Richard 
Brinsley  Sheridan  ['  Advertisement '  signed  by  Thomas  Moore]. 
2  vols.  London.  John  Murray,  Albemarle-Street;  James 
Ridgway;  and  Thomas  Wilkie.  182 1.  This  work,  from  its 
association  with  the  name  of  Sheridan's  biographer,  acquired 
an  authority  which  Moore's  own  confessions  show  was  unwar- 
ranted. In  lieu  of  the  '  Life '  which  was  to  accompany  the 
work,  Moore  finally  contributed  an  apologetic  '  Advertisement ' 
which,  supported  by  other  definite  testimony,  shows  how 
nominal  was  his  connection  with  the  work  on  Sheridan  which 
was  published  during  his  protracted  residence  on  the  Continent. 
The  so-called  '  Moore  edition,'  however,  has  been  the  ultimate 
source  of  most  subsequent  reprints  of  Sheridan's  plays. 

An  excellent  reprint  of  the  first  edition  of  The  Rivals  is  in 
The  Rivals,  with  an  introduction  and  notes  by  Joseph  Quincy 
Adams,  Jr.  {Riverside  Literature  Series).  Boston,  New  York, 
Chicago  [19 10].  A  recent  annotated  edition  of  The  Rivals  is 
Sheridan,  The  Rivals,  edited  with  introduction  and  notes  by 
T.  Balston.  Oxford,  1913.  An  annotated  edition  of  the  two 
major  comedies  is  The  Rivals  and  The  School  for  Scandal, 
edited  with  introduction  and  notes  by  Will  David  Howe  (Mac- 
millan's  Pocket  American  and  English  Classics) .  New  York  and 
London,  1907.  '  Sheridan's  Rivals  and  School  for  Scandal '  is 
the  subject  of  a  discussion  (pp.  177-218)  in  MoUoy's  Famous 
Plays.  A  convenient  annotated  edition  of  Sheridan's  collected 
plays  is  The  Dramatic  Works  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan, 


340  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

with  an  introducfion  by  Joseph  Knight.     Oxford,  etc.  [1906]. 

For  references  as  to  editions  of  Sheridan's  plays  prior  to  1906, 
see  '  A  Bibliographical  Note '  (pp.  cxi-cxvii)  in  the  present 
writer's  The  Major  Dramas  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan, 
The  Rivals,  The  School  for  Scandal,  The  Critic,  edited  with 
introductions  and  notes  {AthencBum  Press  Series,  G.  L. 
Kittredge  and  C.  T.  Winchester,  General  Editors).  Boston, 
etc.  [1906].  This  work  supplies  detailed  critical  and  biblio- 
graphical material  which  it  has  seemed  unnecessary  to  reproduce 
here. 

Among  numerous  accounts  of  Sheridan's  life  may  be  men- 
tioned a  few  representative  works.  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  the 
Right  Honourable  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.  By  Thomas 
Moore.  1825  [Third  edition,  2  vols.,  1825].  This  work  handles 
somewhat  carelessly  its  abundant  materials,  but  remains  the 
most  important  of  the  earlier  biographies.  'A  Biographical 
Sketch '  by  Brander  Matthews  in  his  Sheridan^ s  Comedies, 
The  Rivals  and  The  School  for  Scandal.  Boston  [also  London], 
1885.  [Reprinted  with  slight  changes,  New  York,  1904-] 
This  is  an  interesting  briefer  account.  Life  of  Richard  Brinsley 
Sheridan,  by  Lloyd  C.  Sanders  {Great  Writers  Series).  London, 
etc.  [1890].  This  contains  much  useful  material,  including 
a  bibliography  by  John  P.  Anderson.  Sheridan,  a  biography, 
by  W.  Eraser  Rae.  2  vols.  1906.  This  work,  by  the  author 
of  the  Sheridan  article  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  and  the  editor  of 
Sheridan's  Plays  now  printed  as  he  wrote  them,  is  an  extensive 
and  important  study  based  largely  on  the  Sheridan  manuscripts 
and  other  authoritative  sources  of  information.  Sheridan, 
from  new  and  original  material ;  including  a  manuscript  diary 
by  Georgiana  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  by  Walter  Sichel. 
2  vols.  1909.  This  elaborate  work  supplements  Fraser  Rae's 
biography,  enlarging  the  field  with  some  useful  new  matter, 
but  it  is  marred  by  frequently  ill-founded  claims  to  origi- 
nality and  by  errors  especially  numerous  in  the  untrustworthy 
bibliography. 


INDEX 

Individual  plays  are  listed  separately  under  their  ovra  titles,  with  the 
names  of  their  authors  in  brackets.  In  the  case  of  Restoration  and  eighteenth- 
century  dramatists,  references  under  individual  author-headings  are  given, 
as  a  rule,  (i)  to  the  chief  discussion  of  their  dramatic  work,  (2)  to  additional 
comments  either  on  general  or  specific  aspects  of  their  dramatic  work,  and 
(3)  to  commentary  on  their  critical  views  of  drama  and  on  various  incidental 
topics.  Important,  or  relatively  important,  references  are  indicated  by 
heavy-faced  page  numerals;  references  to  footnotes  in  the  main  text,  by 
*n.';  to  the  'Bibliographical  Notes'  (pp.  315-340),  by  'BIBL.,'  followed 
by  the  page  numeral.  With  a  few  exceptions,  authors  and  titles  cited  only 
in  the  ' BibHographical  Notes'  are  not  separately  Usted  in  this  Index,  but 
various  critical  editions,  theses,  and  other  works  may  be  located  through 
the  general  bibliographical  references  given  under  the  individual  dramatists 
or  topics  concerned. 


Abdelazar  (Mrs.  Behn),  114. 

Actaeon  and  Diana  (Cox),  107. 

Actors, 

creation  of  two  companies  of,  under 
Charles  II,  2 ;  account  of,  during 
dramatic  interregnum,  14-16;  after 
the  Restoration,  30-31. 

Actors  Remonstrance,  The  (pr.  1643), 
15-16;  BIBL.,  321. 

Actresses, 

sporadic  appearances  of,  before 
the  Restoration,  3;  regularly  em- 
ployed on  Restoration  stage,  3 ; 
plays  acted  wholly  by,  34,  42; 
coarse  epilogues  spoken  by,  42. 

Addington,  William, 

Kelly's  School  for  Wives  produced 
under  his  name,  272. 

Addison,  Joseph, 

dramatic  work  and  criticisms,  179- 
182,  184;  other  references  to 
Cato,  163,  189,  198,  216;  to 
Rosamond,  172,  172  n. ;  protests 
against  perversion  of  Lear,ii5; 
indebtedness  of  Steele's  Lying 
Lover  to,  162,  162  n. ;  remarks 
on  opera,  171,  171  n. ;  prologue 
and  epilogue  by,  179;  attacks 
gambling,  210;  BIBL.,  330-331, 


Adventures  of  Five  Hours,  The  (Take), 

6,  45,  109, 
^sop  (Vanbrugh),  133. 
Afterpieces,  dramatic, 

development  and  influence  of,  247- 

249. 
Agamemnon  (Thomson),  197. 
Agis  (Home),  240. 
Aitken,  G.  A., 

his  edition  of  Steele  cited,  163  n.; 

BIBL.,  330. 
Albion  and  Albanius, 

opera  by  Dryden,  94;  its  Preface 

cited,  171. 
Albion  Queens,  The  (original  title,  The 

Island  Queens,  John  Banks),  117. 
Alchemist,  The  (Jonson), 

revivals  of,  38,   183;    Garrick  as 

Abel  D  rugger  in,  245. 
Alcibiades  (Otway),  99. 
Alexander   the  Great,   The   Death   of 

(main  title.  The  Rival  Queens,  Lee), 

9^7.  97  n.,  117  n. 
Alfred  (Home),  240-241. 
All  for  Love    (Dryden),  90-92,   53, 

68,  88,  95,  96,  loi. 
All  in  the  Wrong  (Murphy),  255. 
Almanzor  and  Almahide,  or  The  Con- 
quest of  Granada  by  the  Spaniards 


341 


342 


INDEX 


Almanzor  and  Almahide  —  Cont. 

(Dry den),  62-63,  60 ; 

its    Epilogue,    63-64;     Almanzor 

burlesqued     in    The      Rehearsal, 

64-65. 
Almida, 

Madame   Celesia's  adaptation  of 

Voltaire's  Tancrede,  236. 
Alonzo  (Home),  240. 
Alzira, 

Hill's    adaptation    of    Voltaire's 

Alzire,  200. 
Alzuma  (Murphy),  237. 
Ambitious  Step-Mother,  The  (Rowe), 

173; 

its  Epilogue  cited,  169;   its  Pro- 
logue cited,  177. 
Amboyna  (Dryden),  67. 
Amorous  Prince,  The   (Mrs.  Behn), 

114. 
Amphitryon  (Dryden),  93. 
Andromache, 

Crowne's   adaptation   of    Racine, 

112. 
Andronicus  Comnenius  (Wilson),  39. 
Antony  and  Cleopatra  (Sedley),  iii. 
Antony  and  Cleopatra  (Shakespeare), 

contrasted  with  All  for  Love,  90-92. 
Appius  (Moncrief),  240. 
Arber,  Edward, 

his  reprint  of  The  Rehearsal  cited, 

55  n.,  65  n. ;   BIBL.,  324. 
Arbuthnot,  John, 

collaborates  with  Gay  and  Pope, 

190. 
Arden  of  Fever  sham  (Lillo),  208. 
Arsino'e, 

opera  by  Motteux,  171. 
Artifice,  The  (Mrs.  Centlivre),  154. 
Artificial  Comedy  of  the  Last  Century, 

On  the.  Lamb's  essay,  7-10 ;  BIBL., 

320. 
Assignation,  The  (Dryden),  67. 
As  You  Like  It, 

revival  of,  232 ;  a  note  on  Touch- 
stone, 78  n. 
Atheist,  The  (Otway),  100  n. 
Athelwold  (Hill),  200  n. 
Aureng-Zebe  (Dryden),  68; 

its  Prologue  cited,  68,  90. 
Author,  The  (Foote),  253. 


Author's  Farce,  The  (Fielding),  214, 
219. 

Ayscough,  George  Edward, 
his  Semiramis  adapted  from  Vol- 
taire's Semiramis,  236. 

Baillie,  Joanna, 
Elizabethan  tendencies  in,  176. 

Baker,  H.  B., 
his  History   of  the  London  Stage, 
BIBL.,  318. 

Baker,  Thomas, 
Prologue   to   his    Tunbridge-Wells 
cited,  116. 

Banishment  of  Cicero,  The  (pr.  1761, 
Cumberland),  272. 

Banks,  John, 

dramatic  work,  117-118,  106  n. ; 
debt  to  French  romances,  109; 
continued  popularity  of  his  plays, 
173,  240;  satirized  in  Tom  Thumb, 
216;  Jones's  use  of  his  Unhappy 
Favourite,  239-240. 

Barbarossa  (Brown),  239-240. 

Baron,  Robert, 

plays  of,  published  during  inter- 
regnum, 19. 

Barry,  Elizabeth, 
Restoration  actress,  loi,  173. 

Barry,  Spranger, 

actor,  234,  240,  245,  256  (with  his 
wife). 

Bartholomew  Fair  (Jonson), 
revival  of,  183. 

Battle   of  Hastings,    The    (Cumber- 
land), 274. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 
{see  also  Fletcher,  John) 
'drolls'  based  on,  18;  interregnum 
performances  of,  18^19;  D'Ave- 
nant's  early  plays  resembling,  20 ;  as 
forerunners  of  'heroic  drama,'  22, 
32;  Restoration  performances  of, 
35-36,  48,  58;  eighteenth-century 
performanefes  of,  173,  183;  Field- 
ing's allusion  to,  221 ;  popularity  of , 
compared  with  Shakespeare's,  232  ; 
Colman's  alteration  of  Philaster, 
260;  Colman's  edition  of  their 
dramatic  v;orks,  262  ;  BIBL.,  323 
{under  J.  W.  Tupper). 


INDEX 


343 


Beau's  Duel,  The  (Mrs.  Centlivre), 

154- 

Beauty  in  Distress  (Motteux),  166-167. 

Beaux'  Stratagem,   The   (Farquhar), 
137-140 ; 

compared  with  She  Stoops  to  Con- 
quer, 286,  286  n. 

Beggar's  Opera,  The  (Gay),  189-194, 
140,204,  213,  214; 
Rich's  revival  of,  246 ;  its  run  com- 
pared with  that  of  Sheridan's  Du- 
enna, 299-300;  BIBL.,  2>3i-2,5'2. 

Behn,  Mrs.  Aphra, 

dramatic  work,  114-115;  her  Em- 
peror of  the  Moon,  1 84 ;  Continental 
influences  on,  46,  109 ;  Southerne's 
plays  founded  on  her  novels,  118; 
BIBL.,  327. 

Bellamira  (Thomas  Killigrew),  108. 

Bellamira,  or  The  Mistress  (Sedley), 
III. 

Bellamy,  George  Anne, 
actress,  234. 

Belphegor  (Wilson),  39. 

Betterton,  Thomas, 
as  actor,  36,  173,  233 ;  as  manager, 
125,169;  collects  Shakespeare  ma- 
terial, 177. 

Betty,  William  Henry  West, 
the  'Young  Roscius,'  240. 

BickerstaflF,  Isaac, 

dramatic  work,  257 ;  spelling  of  his 
name,  257  n. ;  indebtedness  of  his 
Hypocrite  to  Gibber's  Non-Juror, 
152. 

Biographia  Dramatica, 

cited,  39,  186;   BIBL.,  316-317. 

Biter,  The  (Rowe),  176. 

Blackmore,  Sir  Richard, 

protests  against  the  excesses  of 
Restoration  drama,  120,  142; 
praises  Congreve's  Mourning  Bride, 
120  n. 

Black  Prince,  The  (Orrery),  59. 

Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife,  A  (Mrs.  Cent- 
livre), 154,  195. 

Bon  Ton  (Garrick),  254. 

Boswell,  James, 
his  Life  of  Johnson  cited,  127  n., 
151,  151  n.,  241  n.,  250  n.,  251  n., 
28411. 


Bottom  the  Weaver, 

a  'droll'  founded  on  A  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,  16. 

Bouncing  Knight,  The, 
a  'droll'  concerning  FalstafiF,  18. 

Boursault,  E., 
Vanbrugh's  debt  to,  133. 

Boyle,  Roger  (Earl  of  Orrery), 
dramatic  work,  54-55,  55  n. ;  his 
Guzman,    45,    45    n.;     his   Black 
Prince,   59;    his  debt  to  French 
romances,  109;  BIBL.,  323. 

Bracegirdle,  Anne, 
actress,  173. 

Britannia  and  Batavia  (Lillo),  208. 

Brome,  Richard, 
as    a    forerunner    of    Restoration 
comedy,  72 ;  Mrs.  Behn's  debt  to, 
114. 

Brothers,  The  (Cumberland),  272. 

Brothers,  The  (Young),  195-196. 

Brown,  John, 
his  Barbarossa,  239-240. 

Brutus, 
Buncombe's    adaptation    of   Vol- 
taire's tragedy,  200. 

Buckingham,      Duke     of      (George 
Villiers), 

The  Rehearsal,  64-66,  55,  55  n.,  86, 
89,  213,  214,  229,  229  n. ;  its  in- 
fluence on  Sheridan,  292,  308,  311 ; 
BIBL.,  324. 

Bury  Fair  (Shad well),  84,  86. 

Busie-Body,  The  (Mrs.  Centlivre),  154. 

Busiris  (Young),  195 ; 
burlesqued  by  Fielding,  196,  216. 

Butler,  Samuel, 
his  possible  share  in  The  Rehearsal^ 
64. 

Caelia  (Charles  Johnson),  209-210. 

CcBsar  Borgia  (Lee),  98. 

Caius  Marius,  The  History  and  Fall 

of  (Otway),  100,  233. 
Calderon, 

his  influence  on  Restoration  dram< 

atists,  45,  79,  109. 
Caligula  (Crowne),  112,  167. 
Calisto  (Crowne),  107,  108. 
Calypso   and    Telemachus   (Hughes), 

196. 


344 


INDEX 


Cambert,  Robert, 
French  opera  of,  44. 

Cambridge  History  of  English  Litera- 
ture, The,  BIBL.,  315,  317,  319, 
323,  326,  327,  329,  330,  331,  332, 
333,  334,  335,  336,  338. 

Cambyses  (Settle),  113. 

Capuchin,  The  (Foote),  251. 

Caractacus  (Mason),  243. 

Careless  Husband,  The  (Gibber),  150- 
152,  161; 
Garrick  acts  in,  229. 

Carey,  Henry, 

dramatic  work,  216-217,  194,  265 ; 
BIBL.,  333. 

Cato  (Addison),  17^-182,  183 ; 
Fielding's  reference  to,  163 ;   Vol- 
taire's opinion  of ,  182, 198;  Gibber's 
comment  on,  189 ;  satirized  in  Tom 
Thumb,  216;  BIBL.,  330. 

Cavalier  spirit, 
its  expression  in  printed  interreg- 
num plays,  19-20 ;  in  early  printed 
Restoration  plays,  37 ;  in  early 
acted  Restoration  plays,  36-37; 
in  Etherege's  Comical  Revenge,  74. 

Gelesia,  Dorothea  (Madame), 
her   Almida,    adapted   from   Vol- 
taire's Tancride,  236. 

Censorship,  dramatic. 
Sir  Henry  Herbert's  position  on, 
31 ;  increased  strictness  of,  147 ; 
Gay's  Polly  and  other  plays  pro- 
hibited, 193,  222,  222  n.;  the 
Licensing  Act  of  1737,  221-222, 
2-24 ;  Thomson's  Edward  and  Elea- 
nor a  rejected  by  censor,  197 ; 
BIBL.,  334  (under  The  Licensing 
Act). 

Centlivre,  Mrs., 
dramatic  work,  153-154;   Spanish 
influence  on,  46;  BIBL.,  329-330. 

Chamberlayne,  William, 

his  play  {Love's  Victory)  published 
during  interregnum,  19. 

Chapman,  George, 
Tate's  adaptation  of,  115. 

Charles  II, 
Patent  Theatres  established  under, 
1-2,  30-31 ;  his  regard  for  Thomas 
KilUgrew,    34;     his    relation    to 


French  drama,  47,  59,  59  n. ;   his 
preference  for  comedy,  72,  72  n. 

Cheats,  The  (Wilson),  38. 

Cheats  of  Scapin,  The  (Otway),  100. 

Chinese  Festival,  The, 

produced  by  Garrick,  246. 

Christian  Hero,  The  (Lillo),  207- 
208. 

Chrononhotonthologos  (Carey),  216- 
217,  194;   BIBL.,  333. 

Gibber,  Colley, 
dramatic  work,  149-153,  147,  154, 
204;  other  references  to  his 
Love's  Last  Shift,  133-134;  to 
his  Careless  Husband,  161 ;  to  his 
Non-Juror,  257 ;  to  his  Provoked 
Husband,  133,  195,  303;  his 
Heroic  Daughter,  183;  his  altera- 
tion of  King  John  in  Papal 
Tyranny,  231-232,  231  n. ;  his 
Prologue  to  Hill's  Zara  quoted, 
200;  Spanish  influence  on  his 
plays,  46 ;  Garrick  acts  in  his  plays, 
229 ;  his  influence  on  Steele's  plays, 
161,  162,  163.  —  As  historian  of 
drama  in  his  Apology;  comments 
on  Lee's  Rival  Queens,  96-97;  on 
'dramatic  operas,'  117,  170;  on 
opening  of  Haymarket  Theatre, 
132;  on  Vanbrugh's  style,  136;  on 
spectacular  stage  diversions,  168, 
169-170;  on  Italian  opera,  171, 172; 
on  pantomimes,  184-186,  247 ;  on 
Gay's  Beggar's  Opera,  189;  on 
Fielding's  political  satires,  221-222 ; 
BIBL.,  329. 

Gibber,  Mrs., 
actress,  234,  245. 

Gibber,  Theophilus, 
his  Lives  of  the  Poets  cited,  206  n. ; 
attacks    Garrick' s    Shakespearean 
versions,  234,  234  n. 

Cinna's  Conspiracy  (often,  doubt- 
fully, ascribed  to  Colley  Gibber), 
183. 

Circe  (Dr.  Charles  D'Avenant),  117, 
170. 

City  Heiress,  The  (Mrs,  Behn),  114. 

City  Politiques  (Growne),  112. 

Clandestine  Marriage,  The  (Colman 
and  Garrick),  361-263,  245. 


INDEX 


345 


ClaracUla  (Thomas  Killigrew), 
revival  of,  34. 

Clayton,  William, 
composer  of  music  to  Arsinoe,  171 ; 
to  Addison's  opera,  172. 

Clementina  (Kelly),  272. 

Cleomenes  (Dry den),  93,  94. 

CUfford,  Martin, 
assists  in  The  Rehearsal,  64. 

Clinch,  Lawrence, 
his  success  as  Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger, 
294,  299. 

Cockpit  Theatre,  in  Drury  Lane, 
early  performances  at,  30-31. 

Coello,  Antonio, 

Spanish  dramatist,  45. 

Cofee-House  Politician,  The  (alterna- 
tive title  ioxRape  upon  Rape,  Field- 
ing), 214  n.,  255. 

Cokayne,  Sir  Aston, 
plays  of,  published  during  inter- 
regnum, 19. 

Collier,  Jeremy, 
his  Short  View  of  the  Immorality, 
and  Profaneness  of  the  English 
Stage,  121,  142-144,  148;  his  De- 
fence of  the  Short  View,  123,  123  n., 
145;  pamphlet  controversy  pro- 
voked by,  144-145,  147 ;  attitude 
of  Dryden  towards,  95,  95  n.,  145- 
146;  of  Congreve,  123,  129,  144- 
14s ;  of  Vanbrugh,  144-145 ;  of 
Steele,  158;  other  references  to, 
153,  166,  196,  301;  BIBL.,  329. 

Collier,  John  Payne, 
his  History  of  English  Dramatic 
Poetry  cited,  18  n. 

Collier  controversy,  the, 

over  the  immorality  of  the  stage, 
121, 141-148, 95, 123, 129, 153, 158, 
166,  196;  BIBL.,  329. 

Collins,  William, 
his  connection  with  John  Home, 
242. 

Colman,  George,  the  elder, 

dramatic  work,  257-263 ;  his  Eng- 
lish Merchant,  237 ;  his  alteration 
of  Mason's  Elfrida,  243 ;  his  general 
theatrical  and  literary  career,  262- 
263 ;  his  productions  of  Goldsmith's 
plays,  262,  277,  283 ;  BIBL.,  336. 


Comedy  of  manners, 
Restoration,  contrasted  with 
Spanish  comedy,  46-47;  with 
Elizabethan,  72-73 ;  Etherege  as 
founder  of  'society  comedy,'  73, 
76-77;  Congreve  as  follower  of, 
76,  87,  132;  Shadwell  in  relation 
to,  84 ;  Sheridan  in  relation  to,  87, 
306,  313. 

Comic  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration, 
Macaulay's  essay  on,  8-10 ;  BIBL., 
320. 

Comical  Gallant,  The,  or  The  Amours 
of  Sir  John  Falstafe  (Dennis),  230, 
230  n. 

Comical  Revenge,  The  (Etherege),  73- 

74,     55,   HI. 

Committee,  The  (Sir  Robert  Howard), 
III,  III  n. 

Confederacy,  The  (Vanbrugh),  135, 
132,  133. 

Congreve,  William, 
dramatic  work,  122-132;  gen- 
eral references  to,  37,  47,  53, 
71,  106,  13s,  136,  141,  148, 
166;  as  a  follower  of  'society 
comedy,'  76,  87;  his  Millamant 
compared  with  Dryden's  Melantha, 
67 ;  with  Gibber's  Lady  Betty 
Modish,  150;  his  Belinda  with 
Gibber's  Lady  Grave- Airs,  150; 
his  tribute  to  Wycherley's  Plain 
Dealer,  82-83 ;  his  Mourning  Bride 
praised  by  Blackmore,  120  n.;  his 
part  in  the  Collier  controversy, 
144-146;  as  theatrical  manager, 
172 ;  Queen  Anne  performances  of 
his  plays,  173;  Garrick's  per- 
formances of,  229;  his  influence 
on  Fielding,  213,  224;  on  Colman, 
259,  259  n. ;  on  Sheridan,  291,  306 ; 
BIBL.,  327-329- 

Conquest  of  Granada  by  the  Span- 
iards, The  (main  title,  Almanzor 
and  Almahide,  Dryden),  62-63,  60; 
its  Epilogue,  63-64;  Almanzor 
burlesqued  in  The  Rehearsal,  64-65. 

Conscious  Lovers,  The  (Steele),  163— 
164,  19s,  210,  248. 

Constant  Couple,  The  (Farquhar),  137; 
its  Prologue  dted,  168. 


346 


INDEX 


Constant  Nymph,  The  (Anon.),  io8. 

Constantine  the  Great  (Lee),  98. 

Cooke,  William, 
his  comments  on  Gay's  Beggar's 
Opera,  191,  193  n. 

Coriolanus, 
Tate's  adaptation  of,  115;   James 
Thomson's  version  of,  197;   Den- 
nis's version  of,  230,  230  n. 

Comeille,  Pierre, 
influence  of  his  dramas  and  dra- 
matic theories  on  Restoration 
drama,  49-50,  35,  47,  57,  no;  his 
part  in  PsychS,  44 ;  Dryden's  refer- 
ence to  '  Corneille's  rhyme,'  63,  84  ; 
Steele's  borrowing  from,  161 ; 
Queen  Anne  adaptations  of,  183; 
general  influence  of,  198;  satirized 
by  Fielding,  216;  later  adaptations 
of,  23s,  239;  BIBL.,  331,  335. 

Comeille,  Thomas, 
his  influence  on  Dryden's  Evening's 
Love,  56-57 ;  English  versions  of  his 
plays,  235,  239;  BIBL.,  331,  335. 

Costvune, 
D'Avenant's  early  attempts  at  his- 
torical accuracy  in,  28-29  J  increas- 
ing attention  to,  40-42;  expen- 
sive 'habits'  in  operas,  117,  170; 
in  pantomimes,  187. 

Cotton,  Charles, 
minor  Restoration  dramatist,  no. 

Country  Girl,  The  (Garrick),  80,  300. 

Country  House,  The  (Vanbrugh),  133. 

Country  Wife,  The  (Wycherley),  79- 
80,  77,  81; 

Macaulay  on  its  immorality,  8-9; 
an  alleged  source  of  Sheridan's 
Duenna,  300 ;  compared  with  The 
School  for  Scandal,  306. 

Country  Wit,  The  (Crowne),  112. 

Covent  Garden  Theatre, 
Marforio  produced  at,  220;  Gar- 
rick's  connection  with,  228;  John 
Rich's  Shakespearean  revivals  at, 
231 ;  rivalry  with  Drury  Lane, 
234 ;  revival  of  Murphy's  Orphan 
of  China  at,  237 ;  Douglas  at,  240, 
240  n. ;  Mason's  plays  produced 
at,  243 ;  secession  of  actors  to,  245 ; 
Colman  as  manager  of,  262 ;  Gold- 


smith's plays  produced  at,  262, 
268,  277,  283 ;  Sheridan's  plays 
produced  at,  293,  299. 

Covent-Garden  Tragedy,  The  (Field- 
ing), 216. 

Cowley,  Abraham, 
dramatic  work,  37;   BIBL.,  322. 

Cox,  Robert, 
actor  and  author  of  'drolls,'  16,  18; 
his  pastoral,  107. 

Cozeners,  The  (Foote),  253,  254. 

Cradock,  Joseph, 
his  Zobeide  adapted  from  Voltaire's 
Les  Scythes,  236. 

Craftie  Cromwell  (pr.  1648,  Anon.), 
19-20. 

Crisp,  Samuel  (often,  erroneously, 
'Henry'),  his  Virginia,  239,  240. 

Critic,  The  (Sheridan),  308-312,  313; 
in  connection  with  The  Rehearsal, 
66;  with  Tom  Thumb,  216;  its 
debt  to  Fielding's  farces,  219, 
219  n. ;  its  parody  of  Douglas,  242, 
242  n. ;  its  hit  at  Kelly's  senti- 
mental drama,  270;  its  portrayal 
of  Cumberland  as  Sir  Fretful 
Plagiary,  272;  its  relation  to 
Sheridan  and  Halhed's  Jupiter, 
292 ;  its  personal  hit,  302 ;  BIBL., 
339-340. 

Cromwell,  Oliver, 
acting  'in  Oliver's  time,'  15;  in- 
terregnum plays  attacking  him, 
19-20;  Sir  Henry  Herbert's  men- 
tion of,  31 ;  early  Restoration 
plays  attacking  him,  36-37;  allu- 
sions to,  by  Etherege,  74. 

Cromwell's  Conspiracy  (pr.  1660),  37. 

Cross,  W.  L., 
cited  as  authority,  220  n. 

Crowne,  John, 
dramatic  work,  1 12-113;  Con- 
tinental influences  on,  46,  46  n., 
109,  no;  royal  command  to  write 
comedy,  72  n.;  his  use  of  blank 
verse  and  rhyme,  105,  167 ;  his 
masque  Calisto,  107,  108;  his  Sir 
Courtly  Nice  as  a  typical  fop,  150 ; 
BIBL.,  327. 

Cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  in  Peru,  The 
(D'Avenant),  27-28. 


INDEX 


347 


Cumberland,  Sir  Richard, 
dramatic  work,  272-276,  156,  268, 
277,  282 ;  as  Sheridan's  Sir  Fretful 
Plagiary,  310;   BIBL.,  337. 

Cutter   of  Coleman-Street    (Cowley), 
37- 

Cymbeline, 

Colman's  revival  of,  262. 

Cyrus  (Hoole),  237. 

Cyrus  the  Great  (Banks),  118. 

Dance,  James, 

his  dramatization  of  Pamela,  229. 

Dancer,  John, 
his  translation  of  Tasso's  Aminta, 
107-108, 108  n. ;  of  French  drama, 
no. 

Dancourt, 

Vanbrugh's  debts  to,  133,  135. 

D'Avenant,  Dr.  Charles, 
his  Circe  (1677),  117,  170. 

D'Avenant,  Sir  William, 

dramatic  work,  20-33,  41.  43-44» 
48,  55,  105 ;  his  alteration  of 
Macbeth,  5-6,  41 ;  of  The  Tempest 
(with  Dryden),  5,  56,  56  n. ; 
his  plays  published  during  in- 
terregnum, 19;  attacked  in  The 
Rehearsal,  64,  64  n. ;  as  laureate, 
86 ;  Cibber's  accoxmt  of  his  intro- 
duction of  dramatic  operas,  117; 
BIBL.,  321-322. 

Davies,  Thomas, 

his  Life  ofGarrick  cited,  187, 187  n., 
188-189,  212  n.,  228  n. ;  his 
Dramatic  Miscellanies  cited,  233, 
233  n. ;  BIBL.,  334. 

Debauchees,  The  (Fielding),  218. 

Deborah  (Fielding),  218. 

Defence    of  an    Essay    of  Dramatic 
Poesy,  A,  by  Dryden,  60,  93,  93  n. 

Dennis,  John, 
his  tragedies,  167;  Congreve's 
letter  to,  129,  129  n. ;  in  Collier 
controversy,  144-145 ;  praises 
Congreve,  148;  attacks  Steele's 
Conscious  Lovers,  163 ;  his  essay 
on  operas,  171. 

Destouches, 
a  forenmner  of  sentimental  drama, 
264. 


Destruction      of     Jerusalem,      The 

(Crowne),  112. 
Deuce  is  in  Him,  The  (Colman),  260. 
Devil  upon  Two  Sticks,  The  (Foote), 

253. 
Dictionary    of  National    Biography, 

BIBL.,  318. 
Diderot,  Denis, 

Lillo's  influence  on,  207, 207  n.,  264, 
Dido  and  Aeneas, 

Purcell's  opera,  44. 
Digby,  George  (Earl  of  Bristol), 

his  adaptations  of  Calderon,  45, 

109. 
Discovery,  The  (Mrs.  Sheridan),  260, 

292. 
Disirest  Mother,  The  (PhiUps),  179, 

183,  235,  239; 

satirized  by  Fielding,  216. 
Diversions  of  the  Morning,  The, 

Foote's  entertainment,  249. 
Dobson,  Austin, 

his  Fielding  cited,  223  n. ;  BIBL., 

333;    his  edition  of  Goldsmith's 

plays  cited,   265  n.,  266  n.,  285, 

285  n.;  BIBL.,  337- 
Dr.  Faustus  (Marlowe), 

comic   scenes  in,  compared  with 

Otway's,  102. 
Dodsley,  Robert, 

his  collection  of  old  plays,  238. 
Don  Carlos  (Otway),  99-100,  103. 
Don  Quixote  in  England  (Fielding), 

218. 
Doran,  John, 

his  Annals  of  the  English  Stage 

cited,  195  n.;    BIBL.,  318. 
Dorset  Gardens  Theatre, 

its   opening,    117;     its   elaborate 

spectacles,  168. 
Double-Dealer,  The  (Congreve),  123- 

125. 
Douglas  (Home),  240-243 ; 

parodied  in  Sheridan's  Critic,  309, 

309  n. ;  BIBL.,  335-336. 
Downes,  John, 

his  Roscius  Anglicanus  cited,  5-6, 

6  n.,  35-36,  35  n.,  38,  39,  41,  41  n., 

45,  45  n.,  169,  169  n. ;  BIBL.,  319 ; 

Knight's  reprint  of,  cited,   in.; 

BIBL.,  319- 


348 


INDEX 


Dragon  of  WanUey,  The  (Carey),  217. 

Drama, 

{see  especially  Elizabethan  drama, 
French  drama,  Restoration  drama, 
etc.)  '  modern  English  drama,' 
definition  of,  suggested,  i,  2;  im- 
portance of,  12-13;  formal  open- 
ing of,  30-31. 

Draper,  Matthew, 
his  Spendthrift,  210. 

'Drolls,' 
during  dramatic  interregnum,  16- 
19,  43;  BIBL.,  321. 

Drummer,   The  (Addison),   180. 

Drury  Lane  Theatre, 
earlier  known  as  The  Theatre 
Royal,  31,  35 ;  Vanbrugh's  Re- 
lapse produced  at,  134;  CoUey 
Cibber  as  manager  of,  149 ;  Chris- 
topher Rich  as  manager  of,  169- 
170,  172;  annual  performance 
of  Rowe's  Tamerlane  at,  173 ; 
pantomimes  at,  184-186,  188; 
Lillo's  George  Barnwell  at,  207 ; 
Fielding's  plays  at,  213,  218; 
secession  of  actors  from,  219;  bur- 
lesque of  a  production  at,  220; 
failure  of  Fielding's  Eurydice  at, 
221;  Garrick's  Lethe  at,  228; 
actors'  dissensions  at,  228;  Gar- 
rick  and  Lacy  as  managers  of,  229 ; 
stock  plays  at,  230 ;  Shakespearean 
productions  at,  231  n.,  232-234; 
revivals  of  Merope  at,  237 ;  Garrick 
at,  246;  refunding  of  'advanced 
money'  at,  247,  247  n. ;  Garrick's 
term  as  manager  of,  250;  Kelly's 
False  Delicacy  produced  at,  268; 
Sheridan  as  manager  of,  301,  312; 
Sheridan's  plays  produced  at,  301- 
302,  308. 

Dryden,  John, 

dramatic  work  and  critical  theories, 
53-68,  88-95 ;  his  alteration  (with 
D'Avenant)  of  The  Tempest, 
S,  32;  his  collaboration  with  Sir 
Robert  Howard,  no ;  as  critic,  3, 4, 
35,  SO,  51-52 ;  his  attitude  toward 
Shakespeare,  5,  5  n.,  35,  177;  on 
the  origin  of  'heroic  plays,'  23-24; 
his  dramas  as  stock  plays,  35,  173 ; 


Spanish  influence  on,  45,  109; 
his  tribute  to  Wycherley's  Plain 
Dealer,  82 ;  his  satire  of  Shad  well, 
84,  86;  his  attitude  toward 
Jonson  and  Corneille,  84;  as 
laureate,  86;  his  controversy  with 
Howard,  105,  in;  his  references 
to  Dorset  Gardens  spectacles, 
117,  117  n.,  168,  169;  to  South- 
erne,  n8,  118  n.;  his  praises  of 
Congreve,  122,  130;  his  attitude 
in  Collier  controversy,  121,  145- 
146,  145  n.,  146  n. ;  his  definition 
of  opera,  171;  other  references  to 
Dryden,  43,  71,  73  n.,  77,  85,  86, 
104,  113,  115,  148,  166,  170,  173, 
179,  182,  216;   BIBL.,  323-324. 

Duenna,    The    (Sheridan),    299-301, 
194- 

Duke  of  Guise,  The  (Dryden  and  Lee), 
93. 

Duke  of  Lerma,  The  (main  title.  The 
Great      Favourite,      Sir      Robert 
Howard),  in; 
its  Preface  cited,  60. 

Duncombe,  WiUiam, 
adapts    Voltaire's    Brutus,     200; 
his  verses  on  Hughes's  Siege  of 
Damascus,  196-197. 

D'Urfey,  Thomas, 
Restoration  dramatist,  116. 

Dutch  Lover,  The  (Mrs.  Behn),  109. 

Earl  of  Essex,  The  (Jones),  239-240. 

Edgar  (Rymer),  89,  89  n. 

Edward    and   Eleonora    (Thomson), 
197. 

Elfrid  (Hill),  200  n. 

Elfrida  (Mason),  243. 

Elizabethan  drama, 
its  height  and  decline,  1-2;  its 
methods  of  stage  presentation, 
3;  its  general  contrasts  with 
Restoration  drama,  3-12;  its  in- 
fluence on  'drolls,'  18-19; 
D'Avenant  as  follower  of,  20-21, 
29,  32-33;  T.  Killigrew  as  fol- 
lower of,  33 ;  its  anticipation  of 
'heroic  drama,'  22-23;  its  vital 
connection  with  Restoration 
drama,  35,  43,  48;    Restoration 


INDEX 


349 


Elizabethan  drama  —  Cont. 
revivals  of,  35-36,  48;  Spanish 
influence  on,  45;  use  of  rhymed 
couplet  in,  54;  Dryden's  attitude 
toward,  63-64,  68,  95  ;  connection 
of  its  comedy  with  Restoration 
comedy,  72,  83-84,  86;  Rymer's 
attacks  on,  88-90;  influence  of, 
after  All  for  Love,  95;  on  Otway, 
loi,  102 ;  Queen  Anne  perform- 
ances of,  172-173,  183;  its  do- 
mestic tragedies  in  relation  to 
Lillo,  202;  Dodsley's  Old  Plays 
published,  238. 

Elmerick  (Lillo),  208. 

Elvira  (George  Digby,  Earl  of  Bris- 
tol), 45- 

Elvira  (Mallet),  260. 

Emperor  of  the  Moon  (Mrs.  Behn), 
114,  184. 

Empress  of  Morocco,  The  (Settle), 
113,  113  n. 

English  Merchant,  The  (Colman),  237. 

Englishman  in  Paris,  The  (Foote), 
251. 

Englishman  Returned  from  Paris,  The 
(Foote),  251. 

Epilogues, 
Restoration  tragedies  capped  with 
coarse,  42,  166;    Young's  coarse, 
196. 

Epsom  Wells  (Shadwell),  84-85. 

Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  An,  by  Dry- 
den,  60,  60  n.,  63  n. 

Essay  on  Comedy,  An,  by  George 
Meredith,  cited,  131  n. ;  BIBL., 
328. 

Essay  on  the  Theatre,  An, 

Goldsmith's  views  on  sentimental 
comedy  in,  266-267,  283 ;  Dob- 
son's  reprint  of,  266  n. ;  BIBL., 
337- 

Etherege,  Sir  George, 

dramatic  work,  73-77;  his  early 
use  of  rhyme,  55,  71,  iii;  his 
'seven  years'  silence,'  78,  78  n. ; 
Wycherley's  possible  debt  to, 
78;  his  fop,  Sir  Fopling  Flutter, 
112,  134,  150;  other  references 
to  his  comedies,  46,  86,  104,  105, 
123,  132,  13s;   BIBL.,  324. 


Euripides, 

Dennis's  borrowing  from,  167. 
Eurydice  (Fielding),  221, 
Eurydice  Hissed  (Fielding),  221,  223. 
Evelyn,  John, 

his  Diary  cited,  iii  n.,  141. 
Evening's  Love,  An  (Dryden),  56-57, 

45- 

Fair  Penitent,  The  (Rowe),  173-176; 
Garrick  as  Lothario  in,  2  29 ;  BIBL., 
330. 

Fall  of  Phaeton,  The, 
burlesqued  by  Fielding,  220. 

False  Concord  (Townley),  254; 
as  a  source  of  The  Clandestine  Mar- 
riage, 261. 

False  Delicacy  (Kelly),  268-271,  277, 
282,  310. 

False  Friend,  The  (Vanbrugh),  133. 

Fanshawe,  Sir  Richard, 

his  translations  of  Spanish  drama, 
46 ;  his  work  parodied  in  The  Re- 
hearsal, 65. 

Farquhar,  George, 

dramatic  work,  136-140,  122,  141, 
173,  209,  247  n.;  his  attitude 
toward  Collier,  148;  Garrick  acts 
in  his  Recruiting  Officer,  228,  229; 
compared  with  Goldsmith,  286, 
286  n. ;  BIBL.,  328-329. 

Fashionable  Lover,  The  (Cumberland), 
274. 

Fatal  Curiosity  (Lillo),  208; 

Fielding's  Prologue  to,  217 ;  Field- 
ing's productions  of,  220;  BIBL., 
332-333- 

Fatal  Discovery,  The  (Home),  240. 

Fatal  Discovery,  The,  or  Love  in  Ruins 
(Anon.),  166. 

Fatal  Extravagance,  The  (Hill),  200  n. 

Fatal  Marriage,  The  (Southeme), 
118,  174. 

Fatal  Vision,  The  (Hill),  200  n. 

Fate  of  Capua,  The  (Southeme),  118. 

Fathers,  The,  or  The  Good-Natured 
Man  (Fielding),  223. 

Fenton,  Elijah, 
his  Mariamne,  216. 

Fenton,  Lavinia, 
as  Polly  Peachum,  190. 


350 


INDEX 


Field,  Nathaniel, 
his  Fatal  Dowry  (with  Massinger), 
174,  175- 

Fielding,  Henry, 

dramatic  work,  213—224;  other 
references  to  his  Tom  Thumb, 
194,  196,  197,  256;  his  Squire 
Western  and  Steele,  162;  his 
own  reference  to  Cato  and  The 
Conscious  Lovers,  163;  Gay  as  a 
forerunner  of,  192,  194;  his  appre- 
ciation of  Lillo,  203,  206 ;  an  Epi- 
logue by,  210;  his  relation  to  the 
Licensing  Act,  221-222;  turns 
from  drama  to  novel,  225-226; 
satirizes  Gibber's  Shakespearean 
alterations,  231-232;  his  relation 
to  dramatic  afterpieces,  248; 
Foote  as  a  follower  of,  250; 
Murphy's  debt  to  his  farces,  255, 
256;  Colman's  dramatization  of 
Tom  Jones,  258-260;  his  hits  at 
sentimental  drama,  265;  Sheridan's 
Critic  indebted  to,  311;  BIBL., 
333. 

Filmer,  Edward, 
in  Collier  controversy,  144. 

First  Days  Entertainment  at  Rutland- 
House  (D'Avenant),  22. 

Fitzpatrick,  Richard, 
his  Prologue  to  Sheridan's  Critic, 
308,  308  n. 

Flecknoe,  Richard, 
his    Lovers    Dominion,    107;     his 
Short  Discourse  of  the  English  Stage, 
40;  BIBL.,  322. 

Fletcher,  John, 

(see  also  Beaumont  and  Fletcher) 
D'Avenant's  adaptation  of  The 
Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  32;  his  pos- 
sible influence  on  T.  Killigrew, 
33;  Lamb's  reference  to,  37;  his 
debt  to  Cervantes,  45 ;  Dryden's 
references  to,  60,  93;  Rymer's 
attack  on,  89;  his  Bonduca,  93; 
his  relation  to  Crowne's  Married 
Beau,  112;  Tate's  adaptation  of, 
115;  Vanbrugh's  adaptation  of, 
133;  Farquhar's  debt  to,  137; 
Collier's  tolerance  towards,  142; 
Gibber's    debt    to,    150;    revival 


of  his  Humorous  Lieutenant,  183; 
BIBL.,  323  (under  J.  W.  Tupper). 

Florizel  and  Perdita  (Garrick),  233. 

Foote,  Samuel, 

dramatic  work,  249-254 ;  as  a  fol- 
lower of  Fielding,  224;  attacks 
Voltaire,  236,  236  n. ;  satirized  in 
The  S pouter,  255 ;  transfers  Hay- 
market  Theatre,  262;  presents 
She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  283 ;  his 
burlesque  of  sentimental  drama, 
283-284;  Sheridan's  debt  to,  in  The 
Critic,  $11;   BIBL.,  336. 

Footman,  The, 

an  anonymous  opera,  217  n. 

Forc'd  Marriage,  The  (Mrs.  Behn), 
114. 

Forster,  John, 
his  Life  of  Goldsmith  cited,  285  n. ; 
BIBL.,  338. 

Foundling,  The  (Moore),  210. 

French  drama, 
general  influence  of,  on  Restora- 
tion drama,  47-51;  on  'heroic 
drama,'  57-59 ;  on  minor  Restora- 
tion drama,  no;  on  Queen  Anne 
drama,  179,  183-184;  on  subse- 
quent  eighteenth-century   drama, 

235-237. 

French  heroic  romances, 

influence   of,   on   English   'heroic 

drama,'  57-58,  62,  109. 
Friendship  in  Fashion  (Otway),  100. 
Funeral,  The  (Steele),  156-158,  151; 

its  Prologue  cited,  168-169. 

Gamester,  The  (Moore),  210-212,  239, 

243- 

Gamesters,  The, 

Garrick's  alteration  of  Shirley,  238. 

Garrick,  David, 
as  actor  and  playwright,  227-234 ; 
his  Country  Girl,  80,  300;  his 
Isabella,  118;  his  Gamesters,  238; 
his  farces,  254;  his  Clandestine 
Marriage  (with  Colman),  261- 
262;  his  relation  to  Moore's 
plays,  212;  his  attitude  towards 
Home's  plays,  240,  242-243;  his 
concessions  to  popular  taste,  246, 
248 ;  Foote's  attitude  towards,  249, 


INDEX 


351 


Garrick,  David  —  Cont. 

250;  his  connection  with  Kelly's 
False  Delicacy,  268,  277;  inciden- 
tal references  to  his  acting,  178, 
201,  222,  236,  24s,  260;  BIBL., 
334-335- 

Gay,  John, 
dramatic  work,  189-194;  other 
references  to  The  Beggar's  Opera, 
140,  204,  213,  214,  246,  299;  bur- 
lesques sentimental  drama,  265; 
BIBL.,  331-332. 

Genest,  John, 
author  of  Some  Account  of  the 
English  Stage,  cited,  39, 137  n.,  167, 
174  n.,  176,  176  n.,  179  n.,  188  n., 
189  n.,  209,  217  n.,  219  n.,  222  n., 
223  n.,  230,  231  n.,  234  n.,  236  n., 
240  n.,  247  n.,  248,  249  n.,  277  n., 
278  n.,  284  n.;   BIBL.,  316. 

Gentleman       Dancing-Master,      The 
(Wycherley),  79,  77; 
Bickerstaff's  debt  to,  257. 

George  Barnwell,  The  History  of  (main 
title,  The  London  Merchant,  Lillo), 
202-207,209;  BIBL.,  33 2-333- 

Gil  Bias  (Moore),  210. 

Gildon,  Charles, 
dramatic   work,    167;    in   Collier 
controversy,  144;   his  Comparison 
between  the  Two  Stages  cited,  169  n. 

Gloriana  (Lee),  96. 

Golden  Rump,  The, 

as  a  stimulus  to  the  Licensing  Act, 
221. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver, 
dramatic  work,  277-290;  other 
references  to  The  Good-Natur'd 
Man,  125,  268;  to  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer,  76,  126  (Tony  Lump- 
kin in),  130  (Diggory  in),  135, 
139,  140,  162 ;  comic  spirit  not 
extinct  before,  261-262,  263  ;  Col- 
man's  productions  of  his  plays,  262, 
262  n. ;  his  attacks  on  sentimental 
comedy,  265-268 ;  incidental  com- 
parisons with  Sheridan,  291,  297 ; 
BIBL.,  337-338. 

Goodman's  Fields  Theatre, 
Giffard  as  manager  of,  221;   Gar- 
rick's  triumph  at,  228. 


Good-Natur'd  Man,  The  (Goldsmith), 
277-282 ; 

a  predecessor  of  Yoimg  Honey- 
wood  in,  125;  Colman's  pro- 
duction of,  262,  262  n.;  clashes 
with  Kelly's  False  Delicacy,  268; 
compared  with  She  Stoops  to  Con- 
quer, 287-289 ;  BIBL.,  337-338. 

Gorboduc  (Sackville  and  Norton), 
cited  by  Dryden,  54;  'dimib- 
shows'  in,  184. 

Gosse,  Edmund  W., 
his  Seventeenth-Century  Studies 
cited,  74  n.,  99,  99  n.,  106  n.; 
BIBL.,  324,326, 327;  his  distinction 
between'  Restoration '  and '  Orange' 
dramatists,  106-107,  106  n, ;  his 
Congreve  cited,  122  n.,  126  n.,  128, 
128  n.,  144  n.,  BIBL.,  327-328. 

Granville,  George  (Lord  Lansdowne), 
his  Heroick  Love,  166, 167;  his  ver- 
sion of  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  232. 

Grave-Makers, 
a  'droll,'  18. 

Gray,  Thomas, 
his  opinion  of  Douglas,  241,  241  n. ; 
his   connection  with  Mason,  243, 

244- 
Great  Favourite,  The,  or  The  Duke  of 

Lerma  (Sir  Robert  Howard),  iii; 

its  Preface  cited,  60. 
Grecian    Daughter,    The    (Murphy), 

256. 
Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Tragedy,  The, 

Dryden's  essay  on,  93. 
Grub-Street  Opera,  The  (Fielding),  217. 
Grumbler,  The  (Sedley),  iii  n. 
Guardian,  The  (Cowley),  revised  as 

Cutter  of  Coleman-Street,  37. 
Guarini, 

English  translations  of  his  Pastor 

Fido,  107-108,  108  n. 
Guzman  (Orrery),  45,  45  n. 
Gwynn,  Eleanor  (Nell), 

actress,  56. 

Halhed,  Nathaniel  B., 

collaborates  with  Sheridan,  292. 
Hamilton,  Anthony, 

his  Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont, 

10-11,  75 ;  BIBL.,  320. 


352 


INDEX 


Hamlet, 
Grave-Makers,  a  'droll'  based  on, 
i8;  Congreve's  Love  for  Love  in 
relation  to,  125,  125  n. ;  Jeremy 
Collier's  comment  on  Ophelia,  142 ; 
Voltaire's  borrowings  from,  199; 
Garrick  as  the  Ghost  in,  229; 
Betterton  as,  233;  Garrick's  pro- 
duction of,  233. 

Handel,  George  Frederick, 

his  English  operas,  172,  181,  200, 
231;   oratorios,  97  n.,  231. 

Handsome  Housemaid,  The,  or  Piety 
in  Pattens, 
Foote's  burlesque,  284. 

Hardy,  Alexandre, 

his  French  tragi-comedies,  49. 

Harlequin  Dr.  Faustus, 
Thurmond's  pantomime,  188. 

Harlequin  Sorcerer, 
Rich's  pantomime,  189. 

Hatchett,  William, 
his  Rival  Father,  235. 

Hawkesworth,  John, 

his  alteration  of  Oroonoko,  118. 

Haymarket,  Little  Theatre  in  the, 
its  early  history,  218-219;   Field- 
ing's   connection    with,    219-220, 
222 ;  Foote's  performances  at,  249. 

Haymarket  Theatre, 
its  opening  performances,  132,  172. 

Hazlitt,  William, 
his  eulogies  of  Congreve,  130, 130  n., 
131-132;    his  comment   on  Van- 
brugh's    Lord    Foppington,    134, 
134  n.;  BIBL.,  329. 

Hazlitt,  W.  Carew, 
documents  in  his  English  Drama 
and  Stage  cited,  14  n.,  15  n. ;  BIBL., 
321. 

Hells  Higher  Court  of  Justice   (pr. 
1661),  an  attack  on  Cromwell,  37. 

Henley,  W.  E., 

his  edition  of  Fielding  cited,  214  n. ; 
BIBL.,  333. 

Henry  IV,  Part  I  (Shakespeare), 
revivals     of,      183,     232 ;       The 
Bouncing  Knight,  a  'droll'  based 
on,  18. 

Henry  IV,  Part  II  (Shakespeare), 
revivals  of,  231,  232. 


Henry  V  (Shakespeare), 
revival  of,  231. 

Henry  the  Fifth,  King  (Hill),  200  n. 

Henry  the  Fifth,  The  History  of 
(Orrery),  54. 

Henry  VI,  Part  I  (Shakespeare), 
revival  of,  231. 

Herbert,  Sir  Henry, 
his    'Ofl&ce-book'   cited,  2,   2  n. ; 
protests  against  the  patentees,  31. 

Heroic  Daughter,  The,  or  Ximena 
(Gibber),  183. 

'Heroic  drama,' 
D'Avenant's  Siege  of  Rhodes  as  a 
possible  example  of,  23-25;  his 
later  operas  in  relation  to,  27-28; 
introduction  and  development  of 
rhymed,  S4-70;  partial  survival 
of,  166-167;    BIBL.,  323-324. 

Heroick  Love  (George  Granville), 
166,  167. 

Heroic  Plays ^ An  Essay  of,  by  Dryden, 
66,  23-24,  24  n.,  62  n. 

Heywood,  Thomas, 
as  a  forerunner  of  domestic  trag- 
edy, 202. 

High  Life,  Below  Stairs  (Townley), 
254-255,  217,  217  n. 

Hill,  Aaron, 

adapts  Voltaire's  plays,  200,  201 ; 
his  libretto  to  Rinaldo,  200;  his 
comment  on  Voltaire,  235. 

Hill,  Abraham, 
his  notice  of  Wilson's  Cheats,  39, 
39  n. 

HUl,  G.  B., 
his  edition  of  Dr.  Johnson's  Lives 
of  the  English  Poets  cited,  63  n. 
and  passim  ;  his  edition  of  Bos- 
well's  Life  of  Johnson  cited,  127  n. 
and  passim. 

Historia  Histrionica, 
by  James  Wright, 
cited,  15,  19  n.;    BIBL.,  319. 

Historical  Register  for  1736,  The 
(Fielding),  220-221 ;  its  hits  at 
Gibber's  alteration  of  Shakespeare, 
231-232. 

History  of  the  Mimes  and  Panto- 
mimes, The,  by  John  Weaver, 
cited,  i8s  n.,  186,  186  n. 


INDEX 


353 


Hoadley,  Benjamin, 
his  Suspicious  Husband,  245. 

Hogarth,  William, 

his  work  compared  with  Lillo's, 
203;  its  connection  with  The 
Clandestine  Marriage,  261. 

Home,  John, 

dramatic  work,  240-243,  239; 
Douglas  parodied,  309,  309  n. ; 
BIBL.,  335-336. 

Hoole,  John, 
his  Cyrus,  237. 

Howard,  Edward, 

minor  Restoration  dramatist,  116. 

Howard,  James, 
minor  Restoration  dramatist,  116. 

Howard,  Sir  Robert, 

dramatic  work,  iio-iii;  his 
Indian  Queen  (with  Dry  den),  55, 
55  n.,  58;  his  controversy  with 
Dryden  over  rhymed  drama,  60; 
his  own  practice,  105 ;  attacked 
in  The  Rehearsal,  64,  64  n. 

Hughes,  John, 

dramatic  work,  196-197. 

Hume,  David, 

his  opinion  of  Douglas,  241. 

Humorists,  The  (Shadwell),  84. 

'Humour  comedy,' 

{see  also  Jonson,  Ben)  Wilson's 
revival  of,  38-40;  Congreve's 
definitions  and  views  of  'humour' 
and  'wit'  in  comedy,  129-130; 
'humours'  in  Sheridan's  Rivals, 
298. 

Hunt,  Leigh, 

his  edition  of  The  Dramatic  Works 
of  Wycherley,  Vanbrugh,  Congreve, 
and  Farquhar,  8  n.,  76,  io6 ;  BIBL., 
324-325,  328-329. 

Hurlothrumbo   (Samuel   Johnson,  of 
Cheshire),  214,  219. 

Hypocrite,  The  (Bickerstaff),  152,  257. 

Ibrahim   (Settle),    113, 
Inconstant,  The  (Farquhar),  137. 
Indian     Emperor,     The     (Dryden), 

55-56,  58. 
Indian    Queen,     The     (Sir    Robert 

Howard  and  Dryden),  55,  55  n., 

S8,  no. 


Innocent  Adultery,  The  (main  title, 
The  Fatal  Marriage,  Southeme), 
118. 

Interregnvun  (1642-1660), 
interrupts  rather  than  breaks  con- 
tinuous course  of  drama,  1-2 ;  con- 
dition of  drama  and  stage  during, 
14-29. 

Intriguing  Chambermaid,  The  (Field- 
ing), 217. 

Invader  of  his  Country,  The, 

Dennis's    version    of    Coriolanus, 
230,  230  n. 

Iphigenia  (Dennis),  167. 

Irene  (Dr.  Samuel  Johnson),  238- 
239;   BIBL.,  335. 

Irish  Widow,  The  (Garrick),  254. 

Irving,  Sir  Henry, 
his  opinion  of  Sheridan,  313. 

Isabella,  or  The  Fatal  Marriage, 
Garrick's  version  of  Southeme's 
Fatal  Marriage,  118. 

Island  Queens,  The  (Banks),  117. 

Jackson,  John, 

his  History  of  the  Scottish  Stage 
cited,  188, 188  n. ;  BIBL.,  331,  336. 

Jane  Shore  (Rowe),  177-178,  183, 
202;   BIBL.,  330. 

Jealous  Wife,  The  (Colman),  358- 
260,  245,  262,  263. 

Jefferson,  Joseph, 

his  version  of  Sheridan's  Rivals, 
297,  297  n. 

Jew,  The  (Cumberland),  274. 

Johnson,  Charles, 

dramatic  work,    209-210. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel, 
his  Irene,  238-239 ;  his  opinion  of 
Dryden's  Conquest  of  Granada,  63  ; 
of  Congreve's  Mourning  Bride, 
127;  of  Rowe's  Fair  Penitent, 
174;  of  Addison's  Cato,  181;  of 
Home's  Douglas,  241 ;  of  Gold- 
smith's She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  284, 
286,  289;  his  connection  with 
Garrick,  228,  239;  with  Gold- 
smith, 283  ;  his  remarks  on  Foote, 
250,  251 ;  his  praise  of  Mrs. 
Frances  Sheridan,  292;  BIBL., 
335. 


aA 


354 


INDEX 


Johnson,  Samuel  (of  Cheshire), 
his  Hurloihrumbo,  214,  219. 

Jones,  Henry, 

his  Earl  of  Essex,  239-240. 

Jonson,  Ben., 

Restoration  revivals  of  his  plays, 
35-36,  38,  48;  his  influence  on 
Wilson,  38-39,  43,  72,  83;  on 
Dryden,  63,  84;  on  Shadwell,  84; 
his  attitude  toward  classical  drama, 
49;  Dryden's  reference  to,  60; 
as  a  forerunner  of  Restoration 
comedy,  72,  86;  Jonsonian  charac- 
ters in  Wycherley,  78;  in  Con- 
greve,  123,  126;  Sedley's  reference 
to  his  tragedies,  1 1 1 ;  Queen 
Anne  revivals  of  his  plays,  183; 
Colman's  version  of  his  Silent 
Woman,  262;  Sheridan's  'hu- 
mours' in  The  Rivals,  298. 

Journey  to  Bath,  A, 

Mrs.  Sheridan's  unfinished  comedy, 
292. 

Journey  to  London,  A  (Vanbrugh), 
133,  152,  195. 

Juliana  (Crowne),  112. 

Julius  Ccesar, 

Voltaire's  borrowings  from,  199. 

Jupiter, 

farce  written  by  Halhed  and 
Sheridan,  292,  311. 

Justice  Caught  in  his  own  Trap,  The 
(main  title.  Rape  upon  Rape,  Field- 
ing), 214,  214  n. 

Kean,  Edmund, 
actor,  178. 

Kelly,  Hugh, 
dramatic     work,     268-272,     156, 
274,    277,    279,    282 ;     his    creed 
satirized  by  Sheridan,  310;  BIBL., 
337. 

Kemble,  Charles, 
actor,  178,  207. 

Ker,  W.  P., 
his    edition    of    Dryden's   Essays 
cited,  24  n.  and  passim;   BIBL., 
323. 

Killigrew,  Thomas, 
dramatic  work,  33-34 ;    his  royal 
patent,     30-31;      his     company 


(King's)  of  actors,  31 ;  his  debt  to 

Calderon,  45;    BIBL.,  322. 
King   Ahasuerus  and   Queen  Esther, 

a  'droll,'  18. 
King  Arthur, 

opera  by  Dryden,  94. 
King     John     (Shakespeare),      231, 

231  n. ; 

Cibber's     version     of,     231—232, 

231  n. 
King's,  The, 

company  of  actors,  31  < 
Kirkman,  Francis, 

on  the  'drolls',  16;    his  Wits,  or 

Sport  upon  Sport,  16-19;    BIBL., 

321. 
Knight,  Joseph, 

his  edition  of  Roscius  Anglicanus 

cited,  I  n.;    BIBL.,  319. 
Knights,  The  (Foote),  249-250. 
Kotzebue, 

Sheridan's    adaptations    of,    302, 

312. 

La  Calpren&de, 

his     influence     on     Restoration 

drama,  57,  96,  109. 
La  Chauss6e,  Nivelle  de, 

his   connection   with   sentimental 

drama,  264. 
Lacy,  John, 

dramatic  work,  113;   BIBL.,  327. 
Lady  Jane  Gray  (Rowe),  177. 
Lady's  Last  Stake,  The  (Gibber),  151. 
La  Fayette,  Madame  de, 

her  influence  on  Lee,  98. 
Lamb,  Charles, 

his  essay  On  the  Artificial  Comedy 

of  the  Last  Century,  7-10 ;  BIBL., 

320;     his    opinion    of    Cowley's 

comedy,  37,  37  n. ;   of  Lillo,  203, 

203  n. 
Lancashire  Witches,  The  (Shadwell), 

86;  BIBL.,  325. 
Lansdowne,  Lord  (George  Granville), 

his  Heroick  Love,   166,   167;    his 

version  of  The  Merchant  of  Venice, 

232. 
Law,  William, 

his    treatise    against    the    stage, 

147. 


INDEX 


355 


Law  against  Lovers,  The  (D'Avenant), 
32. 

Lear,  King, 
Tate's  alteration  of,  5,  115;  Vol- 
taire's borrowings  from,  199; 
Garrick  acts  in,  229,  234;  rival 
productions  of,  234;  Colman's 
version  of,  262. 

Lee,  John, 
his  failure  as  Sir  Lucius  0 'Trigger, 
293,  294,  299. 

Lee,  Nathaniel, 
dramatic  work,  95-99;  collab- 
orates with  Dryden,  92-93; 
satirized  by  Fielding,  216;  in- 
cidental references  to,  104,  117  n., 
173;  BIBL.,  326. 

Lessing, 

Lillo's  influence  on,  207,  207  n. 

Lethe  (Garrick),  228,  229. 

Letter  Writers,   The  (Fielding),   218. 

Lewes,  Charles  Lee, 

his  Memoirs  cited,  204,  204  n. 

Licensing  Act  of  1737, 
its  causes    and    effect,    221-222 ; 
evaded  by  Foote,  249-250 ;  BIBL., 
334- 

Lillo,  George, 
dramatic  work,  202-209;  his 
prose  compared  with  Edward 
Moore's,  212;  Fielding's  connec- 
tion with  his  Fatal  Curiosity,  217, 
220;  his  historical  background, 
224;   BIBL.,  332-333- 

Limherham  (Dryden),  92. 

Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre, 

Duke  of  York's  company  at,  31 ; 
Downes,  prompter  at,  35 ;  Better- 
ton  as  manager  of,  169;  Rich's 
pantomimes  at,  188-189;  The 
Beggar's  Opera  at,  189-190;  con- 
trasted with  the  Little  Theatre 
in  the  Haymarket,  218. 

Linley,  Thomas, 
his  music  for  Sheridan's  Duenna, 
300. 

Lionel  and  Clarissa  (Bickerstaff),  257. 

Locke,  Matthew, 

his  operatic  work,  44,  94. 

London      Cuckglds      (Ravenscroft), 
112. 


London  Merchant,  The,  or  The  His- 
tory of  George  Barnwell  (Lillo), 
202-207,  209;   BIBL.,  32>2-2,i3. 

Lottery,  The  (Fielding),  217,  217  n. 

Lounsbury,  Thomas  R., 

his  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire  cited, 
198  n.,  199  n.,  200  n.,  235  n.,  236  n. ; 
BIBL.,  332. 

Love  and  a  Bottle  (Farquhar),  137, 
137  n.,  139. 

Love  and  Honour  (D'Avenant),  23  n., 
32. 

Love  for  Love  (Congreve),  125-126; 
its  Prologue  cited,  82-83 ;  com- 
pared with  Colman's  Jealous  Wife, 
259,  259  n. 

Love  in  a  Village  (Bickerstaff),  257, 

Love  in  a  Wood  (Wycherley),  78-79, 
77. 

Love  in  Several  Masques  (Fielding), 
213-214. 

Love  makes  a  Man  (Cibber), 
Garrick  acts  in,  229. 

Love' s  Dominion  (pr.  1654,  Flecknoe), 
107; 

altered  as  Love's  Kingdom  (pr. 
1664),  40  n. ;  Discourse  ap- 
pended to  the  latter  cited,  40; 
BIBL.,  322. 

Love's  Last  Shift  (Cibber),  133-134, 
149-ISO. 

Loves  of  Mars  and  Venus,  The 
(Weaver),  184-186. 

Love  Triumphant  (Dryden),  93-94. 

Lowe,  Robert  W., 
his  edition  of  Colley  Gibber's 
Apology  cited,  97  n.  and  passim; 
BIBL.,  329 ;  his  edition  of  Doran's 
Annals  cited,  195  n. ;  BIBL., 
318;  his  Bibliographical  Account 
of  English  Theatrical  Literature, 
BIBL.,  317- 

Loyal  Brother,  The  (Southeme),  118. 

Lucius  Junius  Brutus  .  (Lee),  98 ; 
Voltaire's  alleged  debt  to,  200. 

LuUi, 

composer  of  French  operas,  44. 

Lying  Lover,  The  (Steele),  158-161, 
151,  174,  192. 

Lying  Valet^  The  (Garrick),  229, 
2S4- 


356 


INDEX 


Macaulay,  Thomas  B., 
his  essay  on  Comic  Dramatists  of 
the  Restoration,  8-10;  BIBL.,  320; 
his  remark  on  bear-baiting,  19; 
his  opinion  of  Rymer,  89 ;  of  Col- 
lier, 146. 

Macbeth, 
D'Avenant's  alteration  of,  5-6,  32, 
41 ;  Voltaire's  borrowings  from,  199. 

Macklin,  Charles, 
actor,  210,  230,  232,  234;  his  rela- 
tions with  Garrick,  228;   his  pro- 
duction of  The  Merchant  of  Venice, 
232. 

Macready,  William  C, 
actor,  178. 

Mahomet  the  Imposter, 
James  Miller's  adaptation  of  Vol- 
taire,  200,   200  n. ;    its  Prologue 
cited,   200-201 ;    Garrick  acts  in, 
236. 

Maid  of  Bath,  The  (Foote),  252-253, 
251. 

Maid  of  the  Mill,  The  (Bickerstaff), 
257- 

Mallet,  David, 

dramatic  work,  197,  260. 

Malone,  Edmond, 

his  edition  of  Shakspeare  cited,  2  n. ; 
BIBL.,  322 ;  his  edition  of  Spence's 
Anecdotes  cited,  76  n.  and  passim. 

Manley,  Mrs., 

dramatic  work,  167. 

Man  of  Mode,  The,  or  Sir  Fopling 
Flutter  (Etherege),  75-76,  78  n., 
123; 

other  references  to  his  fop,  Sir 
Fopling  Flutter,  112,  134,  150. 

Man  of  Reason,  The  (Kelly),  272. 

Man's  the  Master,  The  (D'Avenant), 
32-33- 

Marforio, 

produced  by  John  Rich,  220. 

Mariamne  (Fen ton),  216. 

Marina  (Lillo),  208. 

Marivaux, 
a  forenmner  of  sentimental  drama, 
264, 

Marks,  Jeannette, 
her  English  Pastoral  Drama  cited, 
107  n. ;  BIBL.,  326. 


Marlowe,  Christopher, 

'heroic'  elements  in  his  Tambur- 
laine,  22,  62 ;  comic  scenes  in  his 
Dr.  Faustus,  102. 

Marplot  in  Lisbon  (Mrs.  Centlivre), 
154. 

Marriage-d-la-Mode  (Dryden),  67. 

Married  Beau,  The  (Crowne),  112. 

Mason,  William, 

dramatic  work,  243-244. 

Masque,  English, 
its  introduction  of  operatic  ele- 
ments, 22;  of  scenery  and  cos- 
tume, 25;  D'Avenant's  connec- 
tion with,  44;  a  somewhat  late 
survival  of,  208. 

Masque    of   Alfred    (Thomson    and 
Mallet),  197. 

Massacre  of  Paris,  The  (Lee),  98. 

Massinger,  Philip, 
as  a  forerunner  of  'heroic  drama,' 
22 ;  Rowe's  debt  to,  174,  175. 

Mayor  of  Garratt,  The  (Foote),  253. 

Measure  for  Measure, 

as  a  partial  source  of  D'Avenant's 
Law  against  Lovers,  32. 

Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont,  by  Ham- 
ilton, lo-ii,  75;  BIBL.,  320. 

Mendoza,  Antonio  de, 
Fanshawe's  translations  of,  46. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  The, 

Macklin's  production  of,  232; 
Lord  Lansdowne's  version  of,  232. 

Meredith,  George, 
his  opinion  of  Congreve's  Milla- 
mant,  130-131;  BIBL.,  328  (JEj^ay 
on  Comedy). 

Meriton,  George, 
a  forenmner  of  Jeremy   Collier, 
120-121. 

Merope  (Hill),   200; 

its  Advertisement  cited,  235 ;  Gar- 
rickactsin,  236;  revivals  of,  237. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  The, 
popularity  of,  during  Restoration, 
36,  232 ;  Dennis's  version  of,  230, 
230  n. 

Middleton,  Thomas, 
as   a   forerunner   of   Restoration 
comedy,  72 ;  his  influence  on  Mrs. 
Bebn,  Z14. 


INDEX 


357 


Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  A, 
Pepys's  opinion  of,  6;   Bottom  the 
Weaver,   a   'droll'   based  on,    i6; 
Garrick's  version  of,  in  The  Fairies, 
248. 

Miller,  James, 

adapts  Voltaire's  Mahomet,  200- 
201,  200  n. 

Milton,  John, 

Dryden's  operatic  version  of  Para- 
dise Lost,  67 ;  his  blank  verse,  92, 
128;  non-dramatic  character  of 
his  Samson  Agonistes,  92  n. 

Minor,  The  ''Foote),  251-252. 

Miser,  The  (Fielding),  218. 

Miser,  The, 

Shadwell's  adaptation  of  L'Avare, 
84. 

Miss  in  her  Teens  (Garrick),  254. 

Miss  Lucy  in  Town  (Fielding),  222. 

Mistake,  The  (Vanbrugh),  133. 

Mithridates  (Lee),  97-98. 

Mock  Doctor,  The  (Fielding),  218. 

Modern  Husband,  The  (Fielding),  218. 

Moli^re, 
general  influence  of,  on  Restora- 
tion drama,  50-51,  47,  83,  no; 
influences D'Avenant,  32;  Dryden, 
56,  57.  93  ;  Etherege,  74 ;  Wycher- 
ley,  78,  78  n.,  79,  80-82,  81  n.,  127, 
140;  Shadwell,  84;  Otway,  100; 
Sedley,  in;  Ravenscroft,  112; 
Mrs.  Behn,  114;  Congreve,  124; 
Vanbrugh,  133  ;  Gibber,  151 ;  Mrs. 
Centlivre,  154;  Steele,  162;  Field- 
ing, 218 ;  Murphy,  255,  256 ;  Sheri- 
dan, 299,  306 ;  as  librettist,  44. 

Moncrief,  John, 
his  Appius,  240. 

Moore,  Edward, 

dramatic  work,  210-212,  239,  243 ; 
BIBL.,  333. 

Moore,  Thomas, 

on  The  Duenna,  300;  his  Life  of 
Sheridan,  304;   BIBL.,  340. 

Morell,  Thomas, 
his '  See  the  conquering  hero  comes,' 
97  n. 

Moreto,  A., 
his  influence  on  St.  Serfe,  46  n. ; 
on  Crowne,  46  n.,  109. 


Motteux,  Peter  Anthony, 

his  Beauty  in  Distress,   166-167; 

his  Arsino'e,  171. 
Mourning    Bride,    The    (Congreve), 

126-128 ; 

Blackmore's  praise  of,  120  n. 
Much  Ado  about  Nothing, 

as  a  partial  source  of  D'Avenant's 

Law  against  Lovers,  32. 
Mulberry  Garden,  The  (Sedley),  78, 

III. 
Murphy,  Arthur, 

dramatic  work,  255-256;   versions 

of  Voltaire,  235-236,  237 ;  BIBL., 

336. 
Musical  Lady,  The  (Colman),  260. 
Mustapha  (Orrery),  54. 

Necromancer,  The,  or  The  History  of 
Dr.  Faustus, 
Rich's  pantomime,  188. 

Nero  (Lee),  96. 

Nettleton,  George  H., 
his  Major  Dramas  of  Sheridan 
cited,  162  n.,  242  n.,  293  n.,  297  n. ; 
BIBL.,  315,  340;  his  chapter  in 
Cambridge  History  of  English  Litera- 
ture cited,  207  n. ;   BIBL.,  315. 

Newcastle,  Duchess  of, 
minor  dramatist,  11 5-1 16. 

Newcastle,  Duke  of, 

minor  dramatist,  84,  11 5-1 16. 

Nicholson,  Watson, 
his  Struggle  for  a  Free  Stage  in  Lon- 
don cited,  192  n. ;   BIBL.,  334. 

Non-Juror,   The   (Gibber),   151-152, 
195,  257. 

No    One's    Enemy    but    His    Own 
(Murphy),  237. 

Novel,  English, 

rise  of,  in  relation  to  the  decline  of 
drama,  225-226 ;  sentimental  ten- 
dency in,  264. 

(Edipus  (Lee  and  Dryden),  92-93,  99. 
Old  Bachelor,  The  (Congreve),  122- 

123,    132; 

Macaulay  on  its  immorality,  8-9; 

Garrick  acts  in  229. 
Oldfield,  Anne  (Nance), 

actress,  137,  197. 


358 


INDEX 


Old  Man  Taught  Wisdom,  An  (Field- 
ing), 217. 

Old  Troop,  The  (Lacy),  113. 

Opera,  English, 

D'Avenant's  Siege  of  Rhodes  as,  21- 
22,  24-25,  43 ;  other  references  to 
his  operatic  work,  5-6,  27,  30,  33 ; 
early  spectacular  operas,  41,  117, 
170;  influence  of  French  opera  on 
Restoration  opera,  43-44 ;  Dry- 
den's  operas,  94 ;  his  definition  of, 
171 ;  Italian  operas  on  English 
stage,  170-172, 185  ;  satirized,  192, 
213 ;  Addison's  English  opera,  172, 
172  n. ;  Handel's  operas,  172; 
ballad  opera  (Gay's  Beggar's 
Opera),  189-194,  213 ;  Carey's 
operas,  216,  217;  Garrick's  ope- 
ratic versions,  234,  248;  Bicker- 
staff's  operas,  257;  Sheridan's 
Duenna,  299-301. 

Opera,  French, 
its  influence  on  Restoration  opera, 
43-44,  94- 

Opera,  Italian, 
its  introduction  into  France,  43; 
into  England,  170-172;    satirized 
by  Gay,  192,  213. 

Orators,  The  (Foote),  251. 

Orestes, 

Francklin's  adaptation  of  Voltaire's 
Oreste,  236. 

Oroonoko  (Southeme),  118; 

altered  by  Hawkesworth,  118; 
Garrick  acts  in,  229. 

Orphan,  The  (Otway),  loo-ioi,  174, 
202; 

Garrick's  appearance  in,  229; 
BIBL.,  326. 

Orphan  of  China,  The  (Murphy),  235- 
236,  237. 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice, 

John  Rich's  pantomime,  246. 

Orrery,  Earl  of  (Roger  Boyle), 
dramatic  work,  54-55,  55  n. ;   his 
Guzman,    45,    45    n. ;     his    Black 
Prince,   59;    his  debt  to  French 
romances,  109;  BIBL.,  323. 

Othello, 

■    Pepys's  opinion  of,  6,  45 ;  Rymer's 
opinion  of,  89;   Young's  debt  to 


lago,  196;  Voltaire's  borrowings 
from,  199. 

Otway,  Thomas, 

dramatic  work,  99-103,  92,  95-96; 
as  a  forerunner  of  sentimental 
drama,  119,  155,  160,  264,  265; 
Rowe's  relations  to,  173,  178;  his 
Orphan  as  a  domestic  tragedy,  174, 
202;  Garrick's  debt  to  his  Caius 
Marius,  233  ;  various  references  to, 
104, 106,  229,  238,  241 ;  BIBL.,  326. 

Oulton,  Walley  C., 
on  the '  immoral  tendency '  of  Gay's 
Beggar's  Opera,  193,  193  n.;  on 
Foote's  Handsome  Housemaid,  284, 
284  n. ;  his  History  of  the  Theatres 
of  London,  BIBL.,  338. 

Padlock,  The  (Bickerstaff),  257. 
Pantomime,  English, 

its  rise  and  importance,  184-189, 

246-247. 
Papal  Tyranny  in  the  Reign  of  King 

John  (Gibber),  231,  231  n. 
Paradise  Lost, 

Dryden's  operatic  printed  version 

of,  67. 
Parson's    Wedding,     The    (Thomas 

Killigrew),  revival  of,  34 ; 

its  debt  to  Calderon,  45. 
Pasquin  (Fielding),  219-220,  218, 221. 
Pastorals, 

during  the  Restoration,  107-109. 
Patent  Theatres,    (see  Drury  Lane, 

Covent  Garden,  etc.) 

established  vmder  Charles  II,  1-2, 

31;     Gibber's    account    of,    117; 

rival  pantomimes  at,  188;  Foote's 

patent  virtually  establishing  third 

Patent  Theatre,  250. 
Patron,  The  (Foote),  253, 
Pepys,  Samuel, 

his   Diary,    10;     his   opinions   of 

Shakespearean  plays,   6,  45;    his 

testimony  as  to  Thomas  Killigrew, 

34;    as  to  Restoration  plays  and 

performances,  38,  45  n.,  54,  55  n., 

73,  III  n. ;  other  references  to,  74, 

141 ;  BIBL.,  320. 
Pericles,  Prince  of  Tyre, 

Lillo's  Marina  based  on,  208. 


INDEX 


359 


Perrin,  Pierre, 
French  opera  of,  44. 

Phadra  and  Hippolytus  (Edmund 
Smith),  179. 

Philasier  (Beaumont  and  Fletcher), 
revival  of,  183  ; 
Colman's  alteration  of,  260. 

Philips,  Ambrose, 

dramatic    work,    179,    183,    184, 

23s,  239; 

satirized  by  Fielding,  216. 

Philips,  Mrs.  Catherine, 

the     'matchless     Orinda,'      no; 
BIBL.,  327. 

Pilgrim,  The  (Vanbrugh),  133. 

Pix,  Mrs., 
dramatic  work,  167. 

Pizarro  (Sheridan),  302,  312, 

Plain  Dealer,  The  (Wycherley),  So- 
fia, 77,  123. 

Plautus, 

Dryden's  following  of,  93;   Field- 
ing's debt  to,  218. 

Playhouse  to  he  Let,  The  (D'Avenant), 
32. 

Polly  (Gay),  193-194,  222. 

Polly  Honeycombe  (Colman),  258. 

Pope,  Alexander, 
on  the  chronology  of  Wycherley's 
plays,  77;  on  Cato,  180,  181 ;  on 
pantomime  (in  The  Dunciad),  187- 
188;  note  in  The  Dunciad,  189  n. ; 
collaborates  with  Gay,  190;  his 
connection  with  The  Beggar's 
Opera,  1 90-1 91 ;  his  opinion  of 
Hughes,  196;  of  Lillo's  George 
Barnwell,  206;  hits  at  card  play- 
ing, 210;  as  editor  of  Shakespeare, 
231 ;  hits  at  Gibber's  King  John, 
231. 

Powell,  William, 
as  actor,  260,  277 ;  as  manager,  262. 

Present  State  of  Polite  Learning,  The, 
Goldsmith  essay  on,  265-266, 
26s  n.,  268,  277. 

Princess  of  Cleve,  The  (Lee),  98. 

Projectors,  The  (Wilson),  38r-39. 

Provoked  Husband,  The  (Gibber),  133, 
152,  195,  214,  303. 

Provoked  Wife,  The  (Vanbrugh),  135, 
133,  136. 


'Prynne,  William, 

author  of  Eistrio-Mastix,  14,  121, 

142,  143. 
Psyche  (Shadwell,  music  by  Matthew 

Locke),  41,  44,  85,  117,  170. 
Puppet-plays, 

during  dramatic  interregnum,  16. 
Purcell,  Henry, 

his  operas,  44,  94. 
Puritans, 

hostiUty  of,  towards  theatres,   i, 

14;    Macaulay's  dictum  on,    19; 

depicted  in  early  Restoration  plays, 

36-37. 

Quarles,  Francis, 

his  Virgin  Widow  published  during 
interregnum,  19,  54;  privately 
acted,  55;  its  early  use  of  'heroic 
couplet,'  54-55,  59;  parodied  in 
The  Rehearsal,  55,  55  n,,  65. 

Queen  Anne  drama, 
aspects  of,  166-184. 

Queen  Catharine  (Mrs.  Pix),  167. 

Queen  Mab, 

Garrick's  'entertainment,'  246. 

Quin,  James, 
his  comment  on  Garrick's  acting, 
228. 

Quinault,  Philippe, 
French   operatic   libretti   of,    44; 
Dryden's  borrowings  from,  56. 

Racine,  Jean, 
general  influence  of,  on  Restora- 
tion drama,  no,  35,  47 ;  influences 
Wycherley,  81-82;  Lee,  97-98; 
Otway,  100;  Crowne,  112;  eigh- 
teenth-century versions  of,  179, 
183, 198,  23s,  239;  BIBL.,  331,  33S. 

Rae,  W.  Fraser, 
his  Life  of  Sheridan  cited,  313  n. ; 
BIBL.,  340;   his  edition  of  Sheri- 
dan's Plays,  BIBL.,  339. 

Rape  upon  Rape  (Fielding),  214, 214  n. 

Rapin, 
Rymer's  Preface  to  his  Reflections, 
88. 

Ravenscroft,  Edward, 

dramatic  work,  111-112,  no; 
his  friendship  with  Mrs.  Behn,  114. 


36o 


INDEX 


Recruiting  Officer,    The   (Farquhar), 
137,  247  n.; 
Garrick's  appearances  in,  228,  229. 

Red  Bull  Theatre, 

actors  assembled  at,  31. 

Rehearsal,  The  (Villiers  and  others), 
64-66; 

its  parody  of  Quarles,  55,  55  n.; 
its  Prologue  cited,  86;  Rymer's 
opinion  of,  89;  its  influence  on 
Gay,  190;  on  Fielding,  213,  214, 
216;  on  Sheridan,  292,  308,  311; 
Garrick  as  Bayes  in,  229,  229  n. ; 
Foote  as  Bayes  in,  249;  Arber's 
reprint  of,  55  n.,  308;  BIBL.,  324. 

Relapse,    The   (Vanbrugh),  133-134, 
135,  139; 

Sheridan's  adaptation  of,  135,  301- 
302 ;  Collier's  attack  on,  143 ; 
Gibber's  comment  on,  149. 

Restoration  drama, 

definitions  of,  106-107;  its  stage 
methods  contrasted  with  Eliza- 
bethan, 3,  40-42;  its  general 
contrasts  with  Elizabethan  drama, 
3-12 ;  its  vital  connection  with 
Elizabethan  drama,  35,  43,  48; 
Spanish  influences  on,  44-47; 
French  influences  on,  47-51,  no; 
some  general  aspects  of,  71-72; 
aspects  of  minor,  104-119;  re- 
action against  immorality  of, 
I20-I2I,  141-148;  Gibber's  Care- 
less Husband  as  an  expurgated 
Restoration  comedy,  150;  The 
School  for  Scandal  in  relation  to,  306. 

Revenge,  The  (Young),  195,  196. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  133,  229. 

Rhodes,  John, 
his  license  for  acting,  30-31. 

Rich,  Ghristopher, 
as  manager   at   Dorset   Gardens, 
i68;  at  Drury  Lane,  169-170, 172. 

Rich,  John, 
his  pantomimes,  184-189,  246; 
his  productions  of  Gay's  Beggar's 
Opera,  189,  246;  his  connection 
with  Fielding,  220;  his  Shake- 
spearean revivals,  231 ;  his  pro- 
duction of  Home's  Douglas,  240; 
BIBL,  331. 


Richard  II, 
revival  of,  231 ;  Tate's  adaptation 
of,  lis. 

Richard  HI, 

its  relation  to  Rowe's  Jane  Shore, 
177,  178;  Gibber's  alteration  of, 
ISO,  230;  Garrick's  appearance 
in,  228. 

Richardson,  Samuel, 
as  novelist,  155,  176,  206;  Pamela, 
advent  of,  22s;  Dance's  drama- 
tization of,  229 ;  Bickerstaff's  debt 
to,  2S7;  La  Chauss6e's  Pamila, 
264. 

Rinaldo, 
Handel's  opera,  172,  181 ;    Hill's 
libretto  to,  200. 

Rinaldo  and  Armida  (Dennis),  167. 

Rival  Father,  The  (Hatchett),  235. 

Rival-Ladies,  The  (Dryden),  4s,  54, 
55,  55  n.,  73  n.; 

its  Prologue  cited,  53,  53  n.; 
its  Dedication  cited,  60,  60  n. 

Rival  Queens,  The  (Lee),  96-97,  97  n., 
117  n. 

Rivals,  The  (Sheridan),  293-299, 
279,  282,  301,  304,  306,  307,  313; 
Mrs.  Malaprop  in,  124;  servants 
in,  125,  287;  Lydia  Languish 
and  Steele's  Biddy  Tipkin,  162, 
162  n. ;  compared  with  Colman's 
Polly  Honeycombe,  258 ;  Sir  Lucius 
O'Trigger  and  Cumberland's 
Major  O'Flaherty,  273,  273  n.; 
BIBL.,  339-340. 

Rochester,  Earl  of  (John  Wilmot), 
his  reference  to  Etherege,  78,  78  n. ; 
his  estimate  of  Shadwell's  work,  86. 

Roman  Father,  The  (Whitehead),  239. 

Romeo  and  Juliet, 
Otway's    version    of,     in    Caius 
Marius,   100,   233 ;    Otway's  dic- 
tion compared  with,  loi  n;   Gar- 
rick's production  of,  233. 

Romp,  The  (Bickerstaff),  257  n. 

Rosamond, 
Addison's  opera,  172,  172  n.,  180. 

Roscius  Anglicanus,  by  John  Downes, 
its  testimony  cited,  5-6,  6  n.,  35- 
36,  35  n.,  38,  39,  41.  41  n.,  45, 
45  n.,  169,  169  n.;    BIBL,  3x9; 


INDEX 


361 


Roscius  Angficanus  —  Cont. 

Knight's  reprint  of,  cited,  i  n. ; 
BIBL.,  319. 

Ross,  David, 

acts  in  George  Barnwell,  204. 

Rotrou,  Jean, 
his  French  tragi-comedies,  49. 

Roundheads,  The  (Mrs.  Behn),  114. 

Rover,  The  (Mrs.  Behn),    109,    114. 

Rowe,  Nicholas, 
dramatic  work,  I73-I79,  184, 
202,  238,  246;  Epilogue  to  his 
Ambitious  Step-Mother  cited,  169; 
its  Prologue  cited,  177;  as  editor 
of  Shakespeare,  177,  215,  230; 
Garrick  acts  in  his  Fair  Penitent, 
229;  BIBL.,  330. 

Rowley,   William, 

as  a  forerunner  of  Restoration 
comedy,  72 ;  The  Thracian  Wonder 
ascribed  to,  107,  108. 

Royal  Convert,  The  (Rowe),  176. 

Royal  Shepherdess,   The  (Shad well), 
108. 

Rump,  The  (Tatham),  36. 

Rymer,  Thomas, 
his  attacks  on  Elizabethan  drama, 
88-90,    142;     Dry  den's    attitude 
towards,  88,  90,  93;   BIBL.,  325. 

Saint-Evremond, 
on  opera,  94,  94  n.;  BIBL.,  326. 

St.  Patrick's  Day,  or  The  Scheming 
Lieutenant  (Sheridan),  299. 

St.  Serfe,  Sir  Thomas, 
his  Tarugo's  Wiles,  45-46,  46  n. 

Saintsbury,  George, 

Scott-Saintsbury  edition  of  Dry- 
den's  Works  cited,  46  n.  and 
passim;  BIBL.,  323;  his  Dryden 
cited,  62  n.,  67,  67  n. ;  BIBL.,  323  ; 
his  edition  of  Shadwell,  BIBL.,  325. 

Samson  Agonistes, 
its  non-dramatic  character,  92  n. 

Scarron,  Paul, 
D'Avenant's  borrowing  from,  33. 

Scenery, 
Elizabethan  and  Restoration  use  of, 
compared,  3 ;  D'Avenant's  use  of, 
21,  22,  25-29;  rapid  development 
of,  on  Restoration  stage,  40-42, 


58  n.,  113  n. ;  its  increasing  im- 
portance, 116-117,  168-169;  its 
use  in  pantomime  and  spectacle, 
i'87-i88,  246. 

Schelling,  F.  E., 
his  chapter  in  Camb.  Hist.,  BIBL., 
317,  323- 

School  for  Guardians,  The  (Murphy), 
256. 

School  for  Scandal,  The  (Sheridan), 
302-307, 124  n.,  279,  282, 310,  313 ; 
compared  with  Wycherley's  Coun- 
try Wife,  80;  Charles  Surface  in, 
125,  280;  Rowley  in,  157  n. ;  its 
relation  to  Foote's  Minor,  251- 
252;  Colman's  Epilogue  to,  262; 
Joseph  Surface  in,  271 ;  'Ani- 
madversions' on,  27s;  BIBL., 
339-340. 

School  for  Wives,  A  (Kelly),  272. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter, 
his  comment  on  Spanish  and  Res- 
toration comedy,  46 ;  on  Dryden's 
All  for  Love,  92 ;  on  his  Don  Sebas- 
tian, 93 ;  Scott-Saintsbury  edition 
of  Dryden's  Works  cited,  46  n.  and 
passim;  BIBL.,  323. 

Scud6ry,  Georges  de, 
his  influence  on  Settle's  Ibrahim^ 
113. 

Scud^ry,  Madeleine  de, 
general  influence  on  Restoration 
drama,  57,  109;  on  Dryden's 
Conquest  of  Granada,  62;  on 
Settle's  Ibrahim,  113;  on  Banks's 
Cyrus,  118. 

Secret  Love,  or  The  Maiden  Queers 
(Dryden),  56; 

its  Prologue  cited,  6z,  63  n.,  84, 
84  n. 

Sedley,  Sir  Charles,  ^ 

dramatic  work,  iii,  78,  iro; 
BIBL.,  327. 

Semiramis, 
Ayscough's  adaptation  of  Voltaire's 
Semiramis,  236. 

Sentimental  drama, 
Otway    and    Southeme    as    fore- 
runners of,  119,  155,  160,  264,  265; 
Steele  as  reputed  founder  of  sen- 
timental  comedy,    155;    Steele's 


362 


INDEX 


Sentimental  drama  —  Cont. 

dramas  in  relation  to,  155-165; 
sentimental  strains  in  tragedy,  166- 
167,184;  in  Rov/e^s  Fair  Penitent, 
173-175;  Gay's  satire  on,  192- 
103,  194;  sentimental  strains  in 
Lillo's  George  Barnwell,  204,  209; 
in  other  tragedies,  209-210;  rise 
and  full  development  of,  264-276; 
Goldsmith  and  the  reaction  against, 
277-284,  290;  Sheridan  in  rela- 
tion to,  291,  294-297,  306-310; 
BIBL.,  336-337. 

Settle,  Elkanah, 

dramatic  work,  113;  his  transla- 
tion of  Pastor  Fido,  108  n. ;  his 
debt  to  French  romances,  109; 
BIBL.,  327. 

Shadwell,  Thomas, 

dramatic  work,  84-86,  104,  105 ; 
other  references  to  his  version  of 
The  Tempest,  41,  44,  56  n.,  117, 
170;  to  his  Psyche,  41,  117,  170; 
his  Royal  Shepherdess,  108;  his 
opinion  of  Sedley's  Antony  and 
Cleopatra,  in,  inn.;  BIBL.,  325. 

Shakespeare,  William, 
{see  also  separate  plays) 
contrasted  with  Restoration  dram- 
atists, 4;  Restoration  attitude 
towards,  5-6;  'drolls'  based  on 
plays  of,  16,  18;  D'Avenant's 
connection  with,  20-21,  32;  Res- 
toration production  of  plays  of, 
35-36,  43,  48;  effect  of  meagre 
scenery  on,  42 ;  Dryden's  attitude 
towards,  68,  93,  95;  Shadwell's 
comment  on,  85 ;  Rymer's  attitude 
towards,  89;  Dryden's  All  for 
Love  in  relation  to,  88,  90-92 ;  in- 
fluences Otway,  100,  loi,  loi  n. ; 
Restoration  adaptations  of,  95, 
lis;  Queen  Anne  performances  of, 
173.  183;  Rowe's  critical  edition 
of,  177,  215 ;  Rowe's '  imitation '  of , 
177-178,  184;  Addison's  opinion 
of,  180 ;  Voltaire's  attitude  towards, 
198-199,  200-201,  236-237;  Gar- 
rick's  acting  of,  227-229;  earlier 
versions,  editions,  and  productions 
of,  230-233 ;  Garrick's  versions  and 


productions  of,  233-234;  Home 
as  the  'Scotch  Shakespeare,'  240, 
241 ;  Colman's  productions  of, 
262;  Sheridan  in  relation  to,  313; 
BIBL.,  335. 

Sheridan,  Mrs.  Frances, 
dramatic  work,   260,   292;    Rae's 
edition  of  her  Journey  to  Bath, 
BIBL.,  339. 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley, 
dramatic  work,  291-313 ;  other 
references  to  The  Critic,  66,  216, 
219,  219  n.,  242,  242  n.,  270,  272, 
279 ;  to  The  School  for  Scandal,  80, 
124  n.,  125,  157  n.,  251,  262,  271, 
27s,  279,  280,  282 ;  to  The  Rivals, 
162,  258,  273,  273  n.,  279,  282;  to 
A  Trip  to  Scarborough,  135;  to 
The  Duenna,  194;  variously  com- 
pared with  Congreve,  124,  124  n., 
125,  131,  132,  141;  his  debt  to 
Steele,  162;  to  Foote,  251-252; 
BIBL.,  339-340- 

Sheridan,  Thomas, 
father  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheri- 
dan, 241,  253,  291-292. 

She  Stoops  to  Conquer  (Goldsmith), 
282-290 ; 

compared  in  plot  or  characters  with 
earlier  dramas,  76,  126,  130,  135, 
139,  140,  162 ;  Colman's  produc- 
tion of,  262,  262  n. ;  compared  with 
Sheridan,  297 ;  BIBL.,  337-338. 

She  Would  if  She  Could  (Etherege), 
74-75. 

Shirley,  James, 
plays  of,  published  during  inter- 
regnum, 19;  anticipation  of '  heroic 
drama,'  22 ;  Restoration  perform- 
ances of,  36;  Crowne's  Married 
Beau  in  relation  to,  112;  Garrick's 
alteration  of  his  Gamester,  238. 

Short  Discourse  of  the  English  Stage, 
A,  by  Richard  Flecknoe,  cited,  40; 
BIBL.,  322. 

Short  View  of  the  Immorality,  and 
Profaneness  of  the  English  Stage,  A, 
Jeremy  Collier's  essay,  12 1,  142- 
144. 

Short  View  of  Tragedy,  A, 
Rymer's  essay  on,  89,  142. 


INDEX 


3^3 


Shuter,  Edward, 
actor,  277,  293,  294. 

Siddons,  Mrs.  Sarah, 
actress,  178,  243,  256. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip, 
his    dramatic    theory,    49;     his 
Arcadia,  108. 

Siege  of  Aquileia,  The  (Home),  240. 

Siege  of  Damascus,  The  (Hughes), 
196-197. 

Siege  of  Rhodes,  The  (D'Avenant), 
21-27,  32,  33,  43,  44;  BIBL.,  322. 

Silmt  Woman,  The  (Jonson), 
revivals  of,  38,  183  ; 
Colman's  version  of,  262. 

Silvia  (Lillo),  202. 

Sir  Courtly  Nice  (Crowne),  112-113  ; 
Spanish  influence  on,  46  n.,  109; 
its  Dedication  cited,  72  n. 

Sir  Fopling  Flutter  (main  title,  The 
Man  of  Mode,  Etherege),  75-76, 
78  n.,  123; 

other  references  to  the  character. 
Sir  Fopling  Flutter,  112,  134,  150. 

Sir  Francis  Drake,  The  History  of 
(D'Avenant),  27,  27  n. 

Sir  Harry  Wildair  (Farquhar),  137. 

Sir  Martin  Mar-All  (Dryden),  56. 

Smith,  Edmund, 

his  Phadra  and  Hip  poly  tus,  179, 

Smollett,  Tobias  George, 
novels  of,  225-226. 

Soldier's  Fortune,  The  (Otway),  100. 

Solomon's  Wisdom,  King, 
a  'droll,'  18. 

Sophonisha  (Thomson),  197 ; 
parodied  by  Fielding,  197,  215. 

Sophonisha,  or  Hannibal's  Overthrow 
(Lee),  96. 

Southeme,  Thomas, 
dramatic  work,  118-119;  as  spon- 
sor for  Congreve,  122,  122  n. ;  as  a 
forerunner  of  sentimental  drama, 
iSS,  160,  264,  265;  other  references 
to,  106  n.,  173,  174,  202,  229,  238. 

Spanish  Friar,  The  (Dryden),  93. 

Spanish  literature, 

(especially  Spanish  drama) 
its  general  influence  on  early  Res- 
toration drama,  45-47;    on  later 
Restoration  drama,  109. 


Spartan  Dame,  The  (Southeme),  118. 

Spence,  Joseph, 
his  Anecdotes  cited,  76  n.,  77,  77  n., 
89  n.,  191  n. 

Spendthrift,  The  (Draper),  210. 

Spouter,  The  (Murphy?),  255. 

Sprat,  Dr.  Thomas, 

assists  in  The  Rehearsal,  64. 

Squire  of   Alsatia,   The   (Shadwell), 
86. 

Stapylton,  Sir  Robert, 
dramatic  work,  116,  116  n.;   bur- 
lesqued in  The  Rehearsal,  65. 

State  of  Innocence  and  Fall  of  Man, 
The  (Dryden),  67 ; 
its  'Apology'  cited,  82. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard, 
dramatic  work,  154-165;  other 
references  to  his  Funeral,  151 ;  to 
his  Lying  Lover,  151,  174,  192;  to 
his  Conscious  Lovers,  195,  210,  248; 
Spanish  influence  on,  46 ;  his  sen- 
timental drama  anticipated,  119, 
264,  265 ;  his  verses  to  Congreve, 
129;  the  moral  tone  of  his  dramas, 
147,  204;  his  protest  against 
Italian  opera,  171 ;  BIBL.,  330. 

Sterne,  Laurence, 
novels  of,  155,  226. 

Stranger,  The, 
partly  adapted  by  Sheridan,  302. 

Sullen  Lovers,  The  (Shadwell),  84. 

Summer's  Tale,  The  (Cumberland), 
272. 

Surr,  T.  S., 
his  novel  Barnwell,  207. 

Suspicious  Husband,  The  (Benjamin 
Hoadley),  245. 

Swift,  Jonathan, 
his  opinion  of  Vanbrugh's  archi- 
tecture, 133 ;  of  Hughes,  196 ;  his 
connection  with  Gay's  Beggar's 
Opera,  1 90-1 91 ;  his  Gulliver's 
Travels,  194,  225. 

Taine,  H.  A., 

his  History  of  English   Literature 

cited,  101-102,  102  n. 
Tamburlaine  (Marlowe), 

its  'heroic'  elements,  22,  62. 
Tamerlane  (Rowe),  173,  246. 


3^4 


INDEX 


Taming  of  the  Shrew,  The, 
Garrick's  alteration  of,  233. 

Tancred  and  Sigismunda  (Thomson), 
197; 
its  Prologue  cited,  197  n. 

Tarugo's  Wiles  (St.  Serfe),  46,  46  n. 

Tasso, 
Elizabethan  versions  of  his  Aminia, 
107 ;  Restoration  versions  of,  108, 
108  n. ;  Dennis's  borrowings  from 
(his  Gerusalemme  Liber ata),  167. 

Taste  (Foote),  253. 

Tate,  Nahum, 

dramatic  work,  115,  5. 

Tatham,  John, 

dramatic  work,  36;  his  influence 
on  Mrs.  Behn,  114;    BIBL.,  322. 

Tavern  Bilkers,  The  (Weaver),  pan- 
tomimic entertainment,    186. 

Tempest,  The, 
D'Avenant  and  Dryden's  version 
of,  5,  32,  56,  56  n.,  85  n. ;  Shadwell's 
version  of  (music  by  Locke),  41, 
44,  56  n.,  85,  8s  n.,  117,  170; 
Garrick's  production  of,  234,  248. 

Temple  Beau,  The  (Fielding),  214. 

Tender  Husband,  The  (Steele),  161- 
163; 
its  Epilogue  cited,  171. 

Terence, 

Sedley's  debt  to  his  Eunuchus, 
III;  his  relation  to  Sou  theme, 
118;  Colman's  debt  to  his  Adelphi, 
259. 

Thackeray,  William  Makepeace, 
compared  with  Fielding,  223;  with 
Townley,  255. 

Theatre  Royal,  The, 

later  known  as  Drury  Lane,  31  ; 
stock  plays  at  35-36,  38.  (For 
further  references  see  Drury  Lane 
Theatre.) 

Theodosius  (Lee),  98; 
its  Epistle   Dedicatory  cited,  99, 
99  n. 

Thomas  and  Sally  (Bickerstaff),  257. 

Thomson,  James, 

dramatic  work,  197-198;  BIBL., 
332. 

Thorndike,  Ashley  H., 
his  Tragedy,  BIBL.,  317-318. 


Thracian    Wonder,    The    (pr.    1661. 

Webster  and  Rowley?),  107,  108. 
Three  Hours  after  Marriage   (Gay, 

Pope,  and  Arbuthnot),  190. 
Thurmond,  John, 

his  pantomime,  188. 
Timon  of  Athens, 

Shadwell's  alteration  of,  85,  85  n. 
Titus  and  Berenice  (Otway),  100. 
Titus  Andronicus, 

Ravenscroft's  alteration  of,  iii. 
Tom    Thumb    (Fielding),    215-216, 

194,    196,    197,    217,    219,    256; 

BIBL.,  333. 
Tovey,  D.  C, 

his  edition  of  Gray's  Letters  cited, 

241  n. 
Townley,  James, 

dramatic  work,  254-255,  217,  217  n. 
Tragedies    of    The    last    Age,    The, 

Rymer's  essay  on,  88-89. 
Tragedy   of  Tragedies,    The 

(see  Tom  Thumb),  Fielding's  ex- 
pansion of  Tom  Thumb,  215-216. 
Trip  to  Calais,  A  (Foote),  251. 
Trip  to  Scarborough,  A  (Sheridan), 

301-302,  135. 
Triumph  of  Love,  The, 

an  opera  with  Italian  music,  172. 
Triumphant   Widow,  The  (Duke   of 

Newcastle),  84. 
Troilus  and  Cressida, 

Dryden's  alteration  of,  93 ;      Dry- 
den's Prologue  to,  cited,  5,  5  n. ; 

Dryden's  essay  prefixed  to,  93. 
Trotter,  Mrs., 

dramatic  work,  167. 
True  Widow,  A  (Shadwell),  86; 

its  Epistle  Dedicatory  cited,  iii, 

III  n. 
Tuke,  Sir  Samuel, 

his  Adventures  of  Five  Hours,   6, 

45.  I09- 
Tumble-down  Dick,  or  Phaeton  in  the 

Suds  (Fielding),  220. 
Tunbridge-Wells    (Thomas     Baker), 

its  Prologue  cited,  116. 
Tutor,  The  (Townley),  254. 
Twelfth  Night, 

Wycherley's  debt  to,  82;   revival 

of,  232. 


INDEX 


365 


Twin-Rivals,   The   (Farquhar),   137; 
its  Preface  cited,  148. 

Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  The  (Fletcher 
and  Shakespeare?), 
D'Avenant's  alteration  of,  32. 

Tyrannic  Love  (Dryden),  60-62. 

Ulysses  (Rowe),  176. 

Unfortunate  Lovers,  The  (D'Avenant), 

revival  of,  32. 
Unhappy    Favourite,    The    (Banks), 

117,  240. 
Universal  Gallant,  The  (Fielding),2i8. 
Upholsterer,  The  (Murphy),  255. 

Vanbrugh,  Sir  John, 
dramatic  work,  132-136,  122,  150; 
Sheridan's  adaptation  of  his  Re- 
lapse, 301-302 ;  his  relation  to  the 
Collier  controversy,  123  n.,  143, 
144-145,  145  n. ;  Gibber's  refer- 
ence to  The  Relapse,  149;  as 
manager,  172;  BIBL.,  328. 

Venice  Preserved  (Otway),  101-103, 
92,  95 ; 

burlesqued  by  Gay,  190;  Gar- 
rick  acts  in,  229;   BIBL.,  326. 

Vertue  Betray' d  (Banks),   117. 

Victorious  Love   (Walker),   166. 

Villiers,  George  (Dvike  of  Bucking- 
ham), 

The  Rehearsal,  64-66,  55,  55  n., 
86,  89,  213,  214,  229,  229  n. ; 
its  influence  on  Sheridan,  292,  308, 
311;   BIBL.,  324. 

Virginia  (Crisp),  239,  240. 

Virgin  Widow,  The  (Quarles), 
its  early  use  of  rhyme,  S4-55 ; 
parodied    in    The    Rehearsal,    55, 
55  n.,  65. 

Virtuoso,  The  (Shadwell),  84. 

Volpone  (Jonson), 
revivals  of,  38,  183. 
C     Voltaire, 
^         his   general    relation    to    English 
drama    and    dramatic    criticism, 
198-201,235-237 ;  compares Wych- 
erley   with    Molifere,    81,    81    n. ; 
his    opinion    of    Cato,    182;     his 
Nanine,   264;    its  Preface  cited, 
264  n. ;   BIBL.,  33a- 


Walker,  William, 

his  Victorious  Love,  166. 
Walpole,  Horace, 
his  Memoirs  of  George  II  dted, 
221  n. ;   his  opinion  of  She  Stoops 
to    Conquer,     289-290;     of    The 
School  for  Scandal,  302-303. 
Walpole,  Sir  Robert, 
satirized  in  Gay's  Beggar^s  Opera, 
191-192;      in    Fielding's    farces, 
219,  220,  221;  his  connection  with 
the  Licensing  Act,  221. 
Ward,  Sir  Adolphus  W., 
his  History  of  English  Dramatic 
Literature,  cited,  51  n.,  57  n.,  59  n., 
78  n.,  112,  112  n.,  ii6  n.,  130  n., 
134,  134  n.,  X47,  147  n.,  150  n., 
157  n.,  159  n.,  172  n.;  BIBL.,  317; 
his  edition  of  Lillo  cited,  203  n., 
207  n.,  208,  208  n.;   BIBL.,  332- 
333. 
Watkins,  John, 
his  Memoirs  of  Sheridan  cited,  310, 
310  n. 
Way  of  the  World,  The  (Congreve), 
129-131,  148,  150; 
Garrick  acts  in,  229. 
Way  to  Keep  Him,  The  (Murphy), 

255- 
Weaver,  John, 
his  connection  with  pantomime, 
184-186;  BIBL.,  331. 
Webster,  John, 

The  Thracian  Wonder  ascribed  to, 
107,  108;  Tate's  adaptation  from 
(his  White  Devil),  115. 
Wedding-Day,   The  (Fielding),   222; 

its  Prologue  cited,  230. 
Welsted,  Leonard, 
his  Prologue  to  Steele's  Conscious 
Lovers,  163. 
Welwood,  James, 
his  Preface  to  Rowe's  translation 
of  Lucan  cited,  173  n. 
West    Indian,    The    (Cimiberland), 

273-274,  282. 
Westminster  Drolleries, 
a  collection  of  non-dramatic  pieces, 
17. 
Wh<U-d'ye-c<Ul-U    (Gay),    190,    194, 

213. 


366 


INDEX 


Wheatley,  Henry  B., 

his  edition  of  Pepys's  Diary  cited, 

6    n.   and   passim;   BIBL.,    320; 

his  Mbliography  of  Dryden,  BIBL., 

323 
Wheel  of  Fortune,  The  (Cumberland), 

274. 
Whitehead,  William, 

dramatic  work,  239. 
Whitelocke,  Sir  Bulstrode, 

his  connection  with  D'Avenant's 

'opera',  21,  21  n. 
WUd  Gallant,  The  (Dryden),  54. 
Wilkinson,  Tate, 

actor,  252. 
Wilson,  John, 

dramatic  work,  38-40 ;  other  refer- 
ences   to   Jonson's    influence    on, 

43,  72,  83 ;  BIBL.,  322. 
Winter's  Tale,  The, 

Garrick's  alteration  of,  in  Florizel 

and  Perdita,  233. 
Wits,    The,    or,    Sport   upon   Sport, 

Kirkman's   collection   of    'drolls,' 

16-19;  BIBL.,  321. 
Wives    Excuse,     The     (Southerne), 

118,  118  n. 
WoflBngton,  Margaret  (Peg), 

her  connection  with  Garrick,  228; 

acts  in  Douglas,  240;   caricatured 

by  Foote,  249. 
Wonder,     The     (Mrs.     Centlivre), 

154- 
Woodward,  Henry, 

actor,  234,  277. 
Word  to  the  Wise,  A  (Kelly),  272. 
Wright,  C.  H.  C, 

his   History   of  French  Literature 

cited,  44  n. ;  BIBL.,  323.  | 


Wright,  James, 
his    Hisioria     Histrionica     cited, 
15, 19  n. ;  BIBL.,  319 ;  his  Country 
Conversations    anticipates   Jeremy 
Collier,  141-142. 

Wycherley,  William, 
dramatic  work,  77-83,  86,  104, 
105,  106,  140;  Spanish  influence 
on,  46,  109;  incidentally  com- 
pared with  Congreve,  123,  124, 
124  n.,  126,  127,  132;  with  Van- 
brugh,  132,  135;  with  Farquhar, 
138;  with  Gibber,  152;  with  Col- 
man,  260 ;  with  Sheridan,  306 ;  de- 
fended by  Dennis,  145;  Bicker- 
staff's  debt  to,  257;  Sheridan's 
alleged  debt  to,  in  The  Duenna, 
300;  BIBL.,  324-325- 

Ximena    (alternative    title    to    The 
Heroic  Daughter,  Gibber),   183. 

Yale  University  Dramatic   Associa- 
tion, 

its  revival   of   Goldsmith's  Good 

Natur^d  Man,  279  n. 
Yates,  Mrs., 

actress,  178. 
York's,  Dvike  of, 

company  of  actors,  31. 
Young,  Edward, 

dramatic  work,  195-196;    BIBL., 

332. 

Zara  (Hill),  200,  201. 

Zenobia  (Murphy),"2s6. 

Zobeide, 

Cradock's     adaptation     of     Vol- 
taire's Les  Scythes,  236. 


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